


Shingeki no Archive

by Kyogre



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Community: snkkink, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-28
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-27 21:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 34,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/983884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyogre/pseuds/Kyogre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of my fills for snk-kink on dreamwidth. </p><p>1. Eren accidentally calls Levi "Dad" (humor)<br/>2. Eren is the center of Mikasa's world (angst)<br/>3. Eren's saliva can heal (humor)<br/>4. Mikasa and Eren, reincarnation apart<br/>5. EMA try to seduce their superiors (humor)<br/>6. Mikasa has a sixth sense for Eren (angst)<br/>7. Levi/Eren, masturbation (smut-ish)<br/>8. Mikasa's scarf goes missing<br/>9. Titans are afraid of Eren (humor)<br/>10. Levi/Eren, reunion after separation (fluff)<br/>11. Survey Corps, Eren accidentally crystallizes himself (humor)<br/>12. Eren and Mikasa, drunk (humor)<br/>13. Eren, protecting (angst-y)<br/>14. Eren and Mikasa, sibling bonding (humor)<br/>15. Eren/Mikasa, marriage (humor)<br/>16. Saving Eren from execution (humor)<br/>17. Soul bonds (Levi/Eren, others, angst)<br/>18. Bonus to 17<br/>19. Drunk time travel (humor)<br/>20. Mikasa waits, immortality (angst, weirdness)<br/>21. Annie gets kidnapped, Armin/Annie (humor)<br/>22. Levi/Eren, only for love (smut-ish)<br/>23. Levi squad stand up for Eren<br/>24. Eren does Mad Medicine (humor)<br/>25. BRA, backwards world (humor)<br/>26. Eren the Angry Baker (humor)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eren accidentally calls Levi "Dad" (humor)

Prompt: Eren calls Levi "dad" by accident in front his squad, and Eren gets so embarrassed he just walks away in the middle of orders completely ignoring Levi yelling back at him.

The more flustered and speechless the better.

\---------

It had been just another meal for the Survey Corps, though like all meals for the last few months, it was made… livelier by their newest recruits. Despite having been forced through several trying missions, the former members of the 104th Training Corps were still kids in many way. 

Case in point, they still got worked up over the stupidest things. 

No one was even sure why Eren and Jean were arguing yet again -- possibly something to do with Mikasa sitting next to Eren or maybe Jean taking some of Eren’s bread, or some other bit of nonsense. The reason itself had been quickly forgotten as the two boys almost came to blows, grabbing each other by their shirts and all but grinding their foreheads together as they tried to glare each other down. 

“Quit yapping and eat your damn food, Eren,” Levi had snapped, not even looking up from his own plate. 

Eren had immediately pushed Jean away and plopped back into his seat. Already reaching for his fork, he grumbled thoughtlessly, “Yes, Dad.” 

There was a moment of profound silence. 

The fork dropped from Eren’s nerveless fingers as he realized just what he had said and to whom. 

Levi’s expression was frozen in a blank mask. 

Eren shot to his feet, bumping the table hard enough to make it tip sideways, several dishes sliding off. Turning, he tripped over the bench and went tumbling head first to the floor. However, that barely slowed Eren down as he scrambled to his feet and ran. 

“Yaeger!” Levi yelled, finally brought out of his stupor. “Come back here and clean up this mess!” Given the way he winced as soon as the words left his mouth, that was probably not what Levi had intended to say. 

There was a thud as Eren ran into the door, having forgotten to open it. Everyone else winced. Cursing, Levi stood up as well. The sound of his chair sliding back sent Eren scrambling to get the door open.

He finally managed it as Levi picked up his pace, and darted out into the hallway. 

“Eren, come back here!” Levi yelled, following after him at something just short of a job. “Or I’ll make you clean the floor with your tongue!” 

The sounds of their chase faded down the corridor. Finally, everyone burst into helpless laughter. 

(Except Mikasa, who looked between Eren's seat and Levi's chair contemplatively and with the faintest touch of confusion.)

~.~.~


	2. Eren is the center of Mikasa's world (angst?)

Prompt: The way this anon has it figured, the deal with Mikasa's obsession over Eren and his wellbeing is because she's dependent on his existence.

Its not that she is incapable of taking care of herself, (She more than capable), it's that with all the shit she's gone through, she completely lacks any direction in life, or any real purpose to go through the motions of staying alive. Eren is basically her purpose in life. She follows him wherever he goes, because she has no direction she wants to go.

\-------------

From the moment Mikasa arrived at the Yaeger household, clutching Eren's hand, his scarf around her neck, she had been almost unnaturally quiet. At first, Carla had thought it was the shock. Then, shyness. But eventually, she began to really wonder. 

Eren had gotten into yet another fight, this time culminating in him throwing a pail of water at a particularly abrasive merchant. Grisha had barely been able to convince the man not to press charges or blacklist their entire town for the insult, and he was still out smoothing tempers and making reparations. 

However, after a stern lecture, Carla hadn't been able to bring herself to punish Eren too harshly. Having heard the entire situation, she couldn't even say that Eren had been wrong about the greedy swine of a man. He simply should have controlled himself better. 

So she had resorted to simply grounding him, in hopes that a little reflection might help Eren think twice before acting in the future. 

When Carla sent Eren upstairs, Mikasa had tried to follow. As the one with enough common sense to pull Eren back before he did more than drench the merchant's clothing, she was exempt from punishment, and in any case, leaving them together would defeat the purpose of sending Eren reflect on his actions alone, free of distraction, Carla felt. 

Mikasa had looked at Carla expressionlessly for a long moment before finally nodding, and Carla couldn't help thinking that as quiet as Mikasa was, she wouldn't be much of a distraction anyway. 

Still, a punishment was a punishment, and being without his friends was part of it. 

As Carla and Mikasa moved around the house, quickly working through their daily tasks, both of them couldn't help glancing up entirely too often. When Mikasa finished her chores with her usual efficiency, Carla smiled and asked her if she was going out, like she and Eren did every other day.

But to Carla's surprise, Mikasa shook her head. There wasn't much in the house to entertain a child, unless she wanted to read some of the books Carla and Grisha had gathered over the years. Was she too shy to go out alone? That seemed not quite right, somehow...

As Carla tried to think of something for the girl to do, Mikasa made her way to the staircase and simply curled up on the bottom step. 

For the rest of the day, she didn't move from that spot, except when Carla all but pulled her away. She didn't go out, even when Armin stopped by to check on them. She didn't show any interest in Carla's offer to teach her to knit. She didn't even nod off, despite the long, dull hours of waiting. She barely reacted when Grisha returned, late that evening. 

She simply sat at the bottom of the stairs until Carla called Eren down for dinner. As Eren emerged from his temporary exile, Mikasa's face brightened, subtly but noticeably, and she grasped his hand. She asked him if he was hungry. Without waiting for an answer, she dragged him to the table and moved her own chair next to his. Ignoring Eren's protests, she filled his plate and began to eat as well. 

When Eren asked her what she had done that day, Mikasa just shrugged. A day without Eren wasn't worth remembering. 

\----

Yeah, I don't know.


	3. It turns out Eren's saliva has healing properties (humor)

Prompt: What if Eren's saliva contained some sciency wiency stuff that promoted/boosted healing in such a way that bruises and cuts healed in a matter of minutes and wounded limbs regrew in hours? Hanji is just crazy enough to make him try in the first place too. Or maybe it's instinct where Armin loses a hand or Mikasa loses a leg. Or maybe it's during sex, because come on, kink meme.

+I bet the government would just *love* to exploit that, but only for the Military Police or those whom reside in wall Sina  
++Armin, who is fond of stories, must know how badly this could go wrong and promptly gets fiercely protective of Eren  
+++Dog Jokes

\---------

It started, as so many things did, with Eren making a mess. 

Levi had been attempting, with little success, to teach Eren a better way of making incisions, to dull the blades less. On an expedition, with supplies limited, being able to use the same blade even once more could make all the difference. 

Trying to replicate the slight twist of the sword Levi had demonstrated, Eren fumbled with his sword and let the sharp blade spin out of control. Thinking back on it, Levi probably should have just let it take out his eye -- it would grow back, and maybe it would’ve taught the shitty brat a good lesson about being careful with weapons. 

But at that moment, Levi reacted instinctively and grabbed hold of the blade, stopping it just short of Eren’s face. Eren froze, eyes wide as he finally realized how close he had come to cutting off his own nose. 

Then, his gaze focused on Levi’s hand, and his expression turned worried. 

Making sure Eren had a good grip on his sword, Levi uncurled his fingers and dispassionately studied the deep, bleeding cut on his palm. “Tch,” he scowled, thinking how stupid he had been to grab the blade like that. He was lucky -- or rather, he was very skilled, even when he was being stupid -- not to lose any fingers.

As it was, he was still in danger of losing some dexterity and motor function in his hand. Unfortunately, even a small imprecision could completely throw off his combat skills. 

“How bad is it? Let me see,” Eren insisted, crowding Levi in his haste and concern. 

“Piss off,” Levi growled, already pulling out a clean handkerchief to stem the blood flow. He would need to get it looked at quickly. He certainly couldn’t afford an infection on top of the wound itself. 

However, Eren refused to back down, despite cringing a little. He grabbed Levi’s hand, pulling away the handkerchief to peek at the bleeding gash, and -- as Levi stared, frankly shocked at his sheer presumption -- brought the man’s hand to his mouth. 

It took a moment Levi to realize that the sensation against his palm was Eren’s tongue. 

A shudder went through Levi’s body as he stood stiff and disbelieving. The brat was licking him! Gross! Disgusting! Filthy!

“What the hell are you doing, you shitty brat?!” Levi snarled, finally breaking out of his stupor enough to snatch his hand back. His fingers twitched nervously as he found himself caught between wanting to wipe off the brat’s drool and not wanting to get it on his clothes, since Eren was still holding his handkerchief. 

“I-isn’t that what you do with cuts?” Eren stammered uncertainly. 

“That’s for papercuts, you idiot, not actual wounds,” Levi snapped, but his anger deflated, almost unwillingly, in the face of Eren’s honest confusion and sincere, approval-seeking eyes. He was so useless, really. “Forget it,” Levi grumbled, turning away. “I’m going to get this patched up. You keep practicing and try not cut off anything that’ll take a while to grow back.” 

\-------

By the time he reached the infirmary, his hand was no longer painful, only twinging a little when he experimentally closed his fingers into a fist. It worried Levi, though he didn’t show it. Numbness was not a good sign. 

Pulling out the medical supplies, he set about rinsing away the blood and -- disgusting brat -- dried saliva. Levi’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he realized that there was far too little blood. His entire handkerchief had been soaked within moments when he first pressed it to the cut, but only the very center of his palm was caked in dried blood. 

As he washed away the brown stains, Levi’s expression grew more and more tense. He stared at his hand in something almost like disbelief. A pink, tender line ran down the palm, but rather than an open wound, it had the quality of something almost entirely healed. 

He made a fist, his fingers moving just as they always had. It wasn’t numb, the way he had feared, nor was there any loss of sensitivity. It was entirely unnatural. 

There were, Levi realized, only two real possibilities. One, something was not right with him. Two, that shitty brat had done something. 

His money was on option two. 

\-------------

“Hey, shitty brat!”

Eren looked up -- answering to that particular nickname was already second nature to him. Mikasa, who had finally found a chance to speak with him along with Armin, was far less sanguine and glared bitterly at Levi. 

“Come with me,” Levi said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. He didn’t offer an explanation or wait for a reply before turning around and heading back the way he had come. 

“Yes, sir!” Eren sounded off quickly, but when he tried to follow, Mikasa held him back. 

“I’m coming too,” she declared to Levi’s back, but the man simply ignored her. Eren glanced at her, but after a moment all he could do was shrug and let her do as she wished. If Levi had objected, he would have let them know. 

“Wait!” Armin called after them both, hurrying to catch up. 

They must have made quite the sight: Levi striding briskly, Eren almost jogging after him, Mikasa following doggedly, and Armin bringing up in the rear -- practically an entire procession, snaking their way through the Survey Corps headquarters. However, aside from a few strange looks, the others ignored them, just shaking their heads and deciding they probably didn’t want to know. They were probably right. 

Finally, Levi drew to a stop, almost making Eren run into him. A firm glare made the teenager briefly defy physics to somehow evade the captain’s personal bubble while still remaining on his feet. It was kind of impressive. 

Ignoring Eren’s flailing, Levi opened the door in front of him and strode in. “I brought him, and two tagalongs too,” he announced. 

As Eren, Mikasa and Armin filed in, they saw that Levi had brought them to what appeared to be an office, probably the commander’s, given that he and Hange were waiting at the massive desk.

“Come in and close the door behind you,” Erwin said, his gaze momentarily lingering on Armin and Mikasa. Fortunately, he seemed to decide their presence wasn’t a problem. 

“Hi, Eren!” Hange greeted the boy enthusiastically. “Levi was just telling us about what happened yesterday. It’s so exciting!” 

“Yesterday?” Eren repeated dumbly, before it finally clicked. His eyes darted to Levi’s hand, his worried expression turning to confusion as he saw that it wasn’t even bandaged. 

“Eren?” Armin prodded him questioningly. 

“Um, yesterday, Captain Levi’s hand got cut pretty badly,” Eren explained distractedly. “But…”

“But the wound healed up by the time I got to the infirmary,” Levi finished, holding up his hand, palm forward, to show that it was completely blemish-free. “It was creepy, so I had the shitty glasses look into it. She thinks it’s your fault, with your disgusting habits.”

“It’s a little farfetched, but I really think it’s possible!” Hange agreed, completely ignoring Levi’s insults. “You know, they say having a dog lick a wound helps it heal!” 

Eren stared at her in surprise, while Levi looked disturbed by the very idea of a dog licking him. 

“What are you talking about?” Mikasa demanded, stepping forward, eyes narrowed dangerously. Eren glanced at her, his gaze lingering on the deep wound across her cheekbone, still not entirely after Trost. 

“Could I really…?” he wondered. He nodded decisively. “Okay! Let’s try it!” 

Without waiting for Hange’s enthusiastic approval, Eren grabbed Mikasa’s shoulder and pulled her sideways. As she ducked a little, he reached up to press what looked -- and felt -- like a kiss to her cheek. 

Mikasa squeaked and flushed pink. It was scarily charming. 

When Eren pulled away, her hand shot up to cover the spot where his lips had touched. But as her fingers lightly skimmed over her cheekbone, Mikasa’s expression turned to faint confusion. 

Even before she pulled away her hand, revealing smooth skin, Hange was already vibrating with excitement. 

“Oh, wow! Wow! Did you see that? It’s true! Eren’s saliva can heal other people’s wounds!” Hange cheered, moving quickly to peer into Mikasa’s face and confirm what they had just seen. “Judging by the rate of healing, you could even close lethal wounds enough to get treatment. I’d have to conduct a few experiments, of course…”

“Figures it would be something gross like that,” Levi grumbled. He honestly seemed to be considering whether being drooled on was worth surviving a mortal wound. 

“Well, it’s certainly a useful ability,” Erwin commented mildly, but his pleasant expression was also calculating. 

“Wait,” Armin spoke up suddenly, “we have to keep this a secret.” He faltered for a moment as everyone turned to look at him, but when Erwin smiled encouragingly, Armin continued, “I mean, what will the Military Police do if they find out? They might try to take Eren away!”

Mikasa growled quietly at the mere suggestion of the Military Police coming near Eren. She might have had a grudge against the damn midget, and the commander was a bit creepy, but they were leaps and bounds ahead of the Military Police. 

Execute Eren? She’d show them execution…

Erwin nodded thoughtfully. “There are many ways to exploit Eren’s new ability,” he agreed. 

“Right,” Armin hurriedly continued. “But we need Eren more, for the sake of humanity. We need his power to help reclaim Wall Maria and defeat the Titans! We don’t have to say anything, right? It’s not like it’s something dangerous. Eren’s not going lick anyone to death.” 

Levi shuddered subtly. Lick... to death...

“That sounds quite reasonable,” Erwin decided. He smiled reassuringly. “Well, for now, let’s keep this between us.” 

It was a good thing Eren had already signed his soul away to the Survey Corps. Otherwise, he might have felt like he was making a deal with the devil. 

Before Eren could ruminate too much on what this new development might mean, he found himself pulled into Hange’s clutches. 

“Well then, come, Eren!” she declared, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him along. “We have so many experiments to conduct! This could be something truly wonderful! I wonder if we could bottle it… Just stick your tongue out and--”

“Get. Out,” Levi ground out. 

\---------

“--quite fascinating, really,” Hange reported much later. “Serious cuts close in minutes, and it works on bruises too. But broken bones are bit more of a challenge. It seems you still need to set the bone, and there is a much greater delay. I think it might have to do with the saliva needing to be absorbed through the flesh first.” 

Erwin nodded, carefully not asking how exactly Hange had found all this out. Some things, man was not meant to know. 

For his part, Levi looked like would have rather not known any of this, his expression one of what passed for haggard with him. 

“Unfortunately,” Hange continued, “it only seems to work when Eren applies it himself. I don’t know if it’s a question of freshness or if intentionally licking a wound makes him subconsciously generate something special in his saliva, but we really can’t bottle it or anything like that.” 

“That’s a shame,” Erwin commented mildly. “Eren’s greatest worth to us remains in his Titan shifting, and our plans will still center on that, so I suppose this is not more than a curiosity.” 

Few soldiers survived their encounter with a Titan, even just long enough for their nearest comrades to reach them. Eren, under the protection of the Special Operations Squad, would be the furthest from the front lines. Maybe after the completion of an operation, but by that point...

Erwin shrugged, apparently already filing the matter away into whichever corner of his mind he used to store generally unimportant trivia, just in case it came in handy for some grand plan. 

Hange sulked a little. “Well, I think it’s amazing,” she muttered.

Levi just hoped he would never have to think of the matter again. Really, licking? Disgusting.

\-------

Naturally, he was the one who ended up benefiting from Eren’s “special treatment method.”

Levi could never quite decide if it had been worth it. Surely, he hadn't really needed that leg?

\-------


	4. Reincarnation generations apart (Mikasa and Eren, angst?, fluff)

Prompt: The reincarnation is spread across time, so their souls very rarely find each other again, and if they do, sometimes they may be decades apart. (IE Mikasa lives a full and quiet life and is an old woman by the time Eren is reincarnated.

\--------------

The first time Mikasa heard the name Yaeger in her new life, she was at the local clinic. Her arthritis was acting up again. The nurses were whispering about the handsome young doctor who had recently joined the staff.

“Dr. Grisha Yeager? Wasn’t there some scandal about him?” a more skeptical nurse commented. “I heard about it from Dr. Tucker.” 

“Really? I thought he managed to cure an epidemic?” another wondered. 

“Does it matter? The only thing I care about is if he’s single,” the one who had brought it up laughed. 

“He’s married,” her friend said with friendly mocking. “And his wife’s expecting. I heard they moved here so their kid can grow up in a nice neighborhood.” 

Mikasa looked down at her thin, wrinkled hands. After so many years, she couldn’t believe it was true. It was just a coincidence. Just her imagination. But maybe... 

On her next visit, she finally saw another person from her previous life. In all her years, she had never experienced that, never crossed paths with anyone she recognized. 

The heavy rain made Mikasa’s joints ache as she slowly made her way to the clinic. Looking up from beneath the edge of her umbrella, Mikasa saw a woman waiting under the clinic’s awning. She was gravid, far along in her pregnancy. 

As Mikasa carefully took the steps, one at a time, the woman extended her hand to help, despite her own condition. Mikasa smiled faintly. Their eyes met.

Even so many, many years later, there could be no mistake. It was Carla Yaeger, smiling at Mikasa with no recognition. 

“...Thank you,” Mikasa whispered, her voice dry and halting. Her eyes trailed down to the woman’s swollen stomach, and without thinking, Mikasa found herself reaching forward. 

Carla smiled with the patience of one who had experienced the same thing many times. People were just naturally fascinated by the creation of a new life, and she had gotten used to strangers congratulating her. 

“It’s a boy,” she said, anticipating the most common question, and the one that followed. “We haven’t chosen a name yet.” 

“Eren...” Mikasa whispered, somehow certain that this was her brother, finally, finally returning to the world they had fought to protect, to create. 

Surprise passed over Carla’s face, before her expression became thoughtful. “Eren...” she repeated. “Eren... What a wonderful name.” 

She almost asked what meaning it had to the old woman -- whom it had belonged to. Her husband? A friend? A family member? But something about the raw, longing look on her face made Carla hesitate. 

Instead, she gently took the old woman’s wrinkled hand in her own. “Would you like to...?” she offered, gesturing to her round belly. 

Under their hands, as if feeling the touch, the baby kicked. 

“I guess he wanted to say hello,” Carla joked. Her eyes widened as the old woman bowed over, her shoulders shaking faintly. “Ma’am? Ma’am...?” 

Silently, Mikasa began to cry. 

‘Finally... Finally, we met again, Eren...’

\----------


	5. Eren, Armin and Mikasa are out to seduce their superiors (humor)

Prompt: Armin, Mikasa, and Eren may have their differences, but one new thing they all share is the hots for older soldiers and the need to panic/gossip/bemoan/contemplate it with their closest friends.

Then they actually get to interact with them one on one and say, "Fuck this bullshit, I am gonna get that ass" and plot to get some. Somehow, they succeed, more or less.

+Obvious cliche plots like bending over a lot, licking their lips, and lewd comments  
++Mikasa gets Hanji before Armin or Eren even begin to lay groundwork  
+++Eren tries to make the best out of his dungeon chains but Levi just wants to hold his hand aka ~love making~  
++++Armin blushing but not stuttering, shut up Eren

\------------

“So,” Armin says, because someone has to say it, “the Survey Corps. It’s not bad, huh?” 

“Told you,” Eren mutters. 

Mikasa cuffs him across the head. “...There are certain good points,” she admits after a moment. They exchange a knowing, wordless look and sigh in unison. Their gazes turn toward a window, where the forms of their superiors can be seen, in the middle of some meeting. 

Hange is gesturing wildly, apparently trying to illustrate some point she is passionately relaying to the commander. Levi’s expression is set in his usual scowl, but he still manages to convey the feeling that he’s going to either fall asleep or commit homicide at any moment. Erwin watches them from behind his desk, smiling benevolently. 

The three teenagers sigh again, lovelorn. 

“So,” Armin says, because they’re all thinking it, “we might die next mission. We better not have any regrets when we go out.” 

“I’m not dying a virgin,” Eren says flatly, because he’s got no tact. Or social graces. 

Fortunately, Levi doesn’t seem to consider those things too important either. 

Mikasa just looks contemplative. 

\--------------

The next time they have a chance to catch up, Mikasa looks smug. Accomplished. Glowing. Experienced.

Eren scowls and mutters about overachievers. Armin face-palms. They aren’t surprised. “Got any tips?” Eren asks contemplatively, as always shameless about his own failings. 

“The best way to show affection is to corner the subject, immobilize them, and kiss them,” Mikasa says. 

“Wait, is that what you did?” Armin asks. “Or did you get Squad Leader Hange to do that to you?” Mikasa refuses to answer.

“Get cornered and immobilized,” Eren repeats thoughtfully. Something about that doesn’t sound quite right, but Armin decides not to ask. It’s Levi’s problem now. 

As for Armin, he has his own plans. Yes, dropping whatever he’s carrying whenever he runs into the commander is part of his plan. 

And so is the blushing. Really. Shut up, Eren. 

\--------------

Armin is in the middle of executing a particularly complicated maneuver that involves him being under Erwin’s desk while the man himself occupies it, when the door to the commander’s office is violently thrown open and Levi storms in.

Erwin can apparently tell what the problem is just by the look on Levi’s face -- which, to Armin, is still set in exactly the same expression as always -- and he sighs. 

“Levi,” the commander says patiently, “the Military Police and Zackley were quite clear in their requirements. He has to remain in the dungeon when he’s not under your supervision. We’re already pushing it by letting your squad guard him part of the time.”

Levi manages to clearly convey that he does not care what the Military Police and Zackley want. 

Eren, what did you do, Armin thinks, groaning and burying his face in his hands. 

The captain must have ears like a bat because his eyes narrow and dart down to Armin, whom he hadn’t noticed before. 

He looks up at Erwin again. His expression still hasn’t changed, but even Armin can tell that the commander is in deep trouble now. He carefully maneuvers out from under the desk, dusts himself off, salutes and departs, quickly. 

There’s no shame in a strategic retreat. 

\------------

Armin finds Eren out in the courtyard, making vaguely sweeping motions with the broom loosely held in his hands. There is a terrible, terrible look on his face that Armin is afraid to name. 

It might, he tries to think generously, just the look of someone who had gotten laid and found it to be far better than he had ever imagined. It could also be called “schoolgirl in love.” “Sempai has noticed me.” “Let’s get married.” That. 

Armin really kind of wants to scream “Titan!” just to see Eren go back to normal -- in other words, murderous. 

As he approaches, he realizes Mikasa is already there, watching Eren like she doesn’t know whether to be happy that it apparently went well or to hunt Levi down anyway for turning Eren into this. They share a look. Armin understands her perfectly. 

Eren sighs and smiles softly. 

Armin makes a sign to ward off evil. It’s creepy. Eren had never worn that look even before the Colossal Titan appeared. 

“So,” Armin says finally, because they can’t just go on staring at Eren while Eren stares off into space, “Captain Levi seems… different this morning.” 

Eren blushes and starts to sweep more energetically. Oh God. 

“Eren, did he touch you anywhere strange? Do anything weird to you?” Mikasa bites the bullet. Her hands are already reaching for her swords.

Eren mumbles something. 

The other two stare. 

“...held my hand..." Eren repeats, blushing again. Armin thinks he can see steam rising from him. No, wait, he really can see steam rising from Eren.

Mikasa spins on her heel and stalks away. 

“That damn midget, going to make him take responsibility,” Armin hears her muttering. 

He groans. How is this his life? Why are his friends like this? And why is he last one to get laid?

\---------  
+BONUS  
\---------

 

“So,” Erwin says, because it’s his duty as the leader to make the hard decisions, like speaking up despite the amazingly oppressive aura Levi is projecting, “I’m glad to see our new recruits are fitting in well.” 

“Sure are!” Hange agrees, cheerfully ignoring Levi’s worsening glare. She goes on, clearly aiming to provoke, “Especially that Mikasa. She’s really something else!”

It works. Levi slams his fist onto Erwin’s nice, ornate desk. The wood splits open, a wide crack running halfway across the surface. Erwin sighs. He rather liked that desk. 

“Tell us all about that,” Levi says, sending all kinds of mixed messages. It’s an order, but with the distinct undertone of there being no right answer. “I want to hear all about what would tempt you into this kind of moral degeneracy.” 

Levi is willing to do anything to achieve his goals, had forsaken pretty much every moral standard long before Erwin even found him, his ruthlessness almost (almost) equal to Erwin’s -- except, it turns out, where it involves issues of consent and especially those Levi perceives as being too young to give consent at all. 

In other words, rape and pedophilia. 

Given that their goal is to wipe out Titans, who don’t even reproduce sexually, Erwin has never seen that as a major concern. And even where it comes to dealing with their other, hm, potential opposition, well, it isn’t like Levi is opposed to seducing a corrupt bastard or two. 

With the Corps’s high first-mission mortality and the older members’ unwillingness to get close to new recruits who are all too likely to die with the next expedition, Erwin hadn’t even realized that Levi might see fifteen as still too young. 

“Well, first of all, she approached me. That’s pretty rare! Usually, I’m the one doing the chasing,” Hange explains shamelessly. “She asked me explains some things to her. And she listened all the way through! Even asked some questions. Then she asked me to demonstrate.” Hange nods, crossing her arms. “So I did.” 

Erwin can see how that would be very appealing to Hange. Frankly, she terrified most of the Corps, who avoided her as much as possible and even occasionally went as far as to baldly run away in the opposite direction. Mikasa had taken the most straightforward approach to expressing her interest, and it had paid off nicely. 

“She asked you to demonstrate sex?” Levi says flatly. His expression is blank and unimpressed. 

“The human mating ritual,” Hange agrees. “I told her two women can’t actually make babies, but she said she still wanted to do it. How could I say no to that?” 

“By having some self-control,” Levi grits out. “And remembering that you’re talking about a kid half your age.” 

Hange hums thoughtfully. “Well, we can’t all be you,” she says casually. “And it’s probably for the best. That level of sexual frustration can’t be good for you. I’m worried about you, you know. If you don’t get laid, you just might snap.” 

“Can’t you find some other way to get off? For example, with someone who’s actually of age.” 

“They’re of age,” Hange points out. “Totally legal.” 

They both turn to look at Erwin, who carefully maintains his open, neutral commander face. “That is correct,” he says, ignoring the way Levi is trying to bore a hole in his skull with the force of his glare. “As a soldier, Ackerman is considered an adult.” Unlike Hange, he prefers not to draw in implications about any other young soldiers. 

“She’s still just a brat,” Levi declares. 

“Who made you the moral police?” Hange complains. “This is why I say you need to get laid. It can’t be that hard to convince Eren to put out.” She nods to herself. “I can imagine it now,” her voice deepens in a poor imitation of Levi, “‘So how about we join forces and go fight Titans? You know, you and me, together, side by side.’ He’ll love it!”

Erwin swears he can hear Levi’s teeth creaking under the pressure as he grinds them together. “Now, now,” the commander says placatingly, “Levi’s restraint is admirable. I also have some concerns about the readiness of a teenager to engage in a serious relationship with a far older party...” 

“Didn’t stop you from getting Arlert under your desk,” Levi mutters. 

Erwin sighs. That is entirely uncalled for, in his opinion. 

“He dropped a pen,” Erwin says, making sure his tone is in no way defensive. He’s had plenty of practice, and this time he hasn’t even done anything wrong. 

“What a clumsy brat,” Levi mutters. 

“Only around our Commander Handsome,” Hange counters, “but then, that’s not very surprising, is it?”

She laughs annoyingly, while Levi seems caught between glaring at her and preemptively glaring at Erwin. 

Erwin makes sure his expression is in no way contemplative. He’s had plenty of practice, and this time he’s just thinking of giving Arlert some pointers about strategy. Really. 

It’s very important to cultivate talent. 

And clearly, all that bending over, and blushing, and brushing up against his legs while searching for a dropped pen -- among other things -- indicates some impressive talent in Armin. 

Since aggravating Levi is also not desirable (he’ll be insufferable), Erwin decides that a long, subtle campaign will be best. It can be quite rewarding, in its own way. 

As for the opposition... Well, Hange is right. Levi will either cave into his own frustration, and then Erwin will be able to use his hypocrisy thoroughly. 

Or Levi will (somehow, miraculously) hold out until whatever arbitrary “maturity” limit he had decided on passes -- given their close ages, it will pass for Armin at about the same time -- and in the meantime, Erwin will arrange for him to have plenty of opportunities to point his growing aggression in the most productive directions. Levi is bound to get absolutely vicious by the end. 

Also, knowing that Erwin has company in his sexual frustration would take the edge off. He’s a sadist like that. 

Erwin wonders if Armin will appreciate the nuances of his plan. It’ll be interesting to find out. 

Levi glares at him as if somehow reading his mind. Or maybe just sensing the suffering in his future. Still, it’s all his own fault. If Levi had just given into Eren’s none-too-subtle suggestion of kinky dungeon sex, instead of toying with the boy’s delicate virgin heart, he would be far more satisfied. 

And Mikasa wouldn’t be out to force him to propose. Which the Military Police would oppose on pute principle and the church would never sanction because...

Hm. Wait. That thought has potential.

Erwin smiles, and Levi feels a shiver go down his spine. 

\---------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa's advice to Eren comes from a great fill, Playing Favorites, so credit to the author.


	6. Mikasa has a sixth sense toward Eren (angst)

Prompt: So this idea came from misreading an abbreviated 'esp.' as 'esp', the sixth sense. SO! I'd like something where Mikasa can tell (as in sixth sense, esp, tell) if Eren's hurt or in trouble or wherever. I'd prefer Gen and Mikasa Eren sibling fluff, but it author!anon wants ships then I don't mind that much either.

\------------

Her mother had told her a story, about a red string of fate. Pinky to pinky, it bound you to the one most special to you, like a promise, she had said, linking her elegant finger with Mikasa’s much smaller one. 

Mikasa had giggled and blushed a little, but she hadn’t really believed it. She hadn’t understood. 

Not until that moment, in the abandoned cabin. 

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” 

Every repetition is like a tug on the thread. It’s not tied around her finger. It’s around her heart. It jerks, once, twice, three times, like the beat of a drum reverberating through her body. Forced into motion by that boy, her heart is beating again. 

She fights. 

Once they are safe, the red thread slackens. But Mikasa still follows him as closely as she can. Whenever they are apart, she feels a pull -- to find him, to return to his side. 

It’s one-sided, but Mikasa never doubts that it’s more than just her imagination. She always just knows, with this special Eren sense, when he is in trouble, when he needs her. It serves her well throughout the years. 

Mikasa ignores it only once. She makes herself believe it’s nothing, when the red thread tightens suddenly, almost jerking her toward the place where Eren is -- hurt, in pain, in danger. He needs her, she knows suddenly, desperately, but she forces herself to turn away and follow her superior. 

The thread tightens, cuts deep, and suddenly goes slack. 

\--------


	7. (smut-ish) Levi/Eren, masturbation

Prompt: Levi finds himself in a deep, deep predicament as he finds a 15 year old male sexy as fuck. He keeps his emotions in check until he needs to blow a load- unbeknownst to him that Eren is nearby listening to all the soft moans and attempts to be quiet.

\----------

The world is a cruel place, Levi thinks. Not only is it cruel, it’s also spiteful and just plain mean. 

There is no other explanation. Why else would he be in this predicament? 

The predicament in question being finding a 15 year old boy sexy as fuck. Because he wants to fuck him. Fuck. No, wait, don’t think that. Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit--

Technically, 15 is an adult, as far as the government’s amazingly lax legal standards go. At 15, you’re a soldier. You can drink and go die for some worthless cause. And fuck. That too. 

However, there are myriad other problems involved in Levi’s situation. For one, he’s quite a bit older than 15 himself. The age gap is honestly approaching “arranged marriage with a wealthy old geezer” levels. It makes Levi feel old, and sleazy. (And yet he can still get it up...)

Also, there is the fact that he’s the brat’s commanding officer. Fraternization is not precisely against the rules, but it’s pretty heavily discouraged, since being too close to someone is just begging to start acting irrationally when they’re inevitably eaten. 

Rules and societal disapproval had never stopped Levi before, but in this case it would lead straight into the next issue -- he’s supposed to be willing to kill this kid at any point. And, sure, if Eren loses it, Levi won’t hesitate, but if they get involved, that would lead to questions, and doubts, and possibly enough of an excuse for the Military Police to take Eren away. 

And besides all that, those anti-fraternization policies makes sense, in a way. Levi’s sick of losing people, and he’s not going to open himself up to the greatest possible loss. As far as he’s concerned, it’s better to lose what you never had, because then you won’t know what you’re missing. It hurts less that way. 

All of these reasons are quite good. 

None of them seem to be doing much to convince Levi’s libido. (And other parts of him, but that’s all he’s admitting to.)

Eren, the little shit, isn’t helping. 

He keeps dropping things around Levi, and then bending over to pick them up. Bending over and showing off his amazing ass. It’s... it’s a really great ass. And from that angle, it’s not like you can tell it belongs to a 15 year old brat Levi is supposed to be guarding, right? Right. 

Still, it’s a really nice ass, and Levi’s hands start clenching reflexively whenever he sees it. It’s so... squeezable. 

Fuck. No, wait, no fucking. That’s the whole point. 

He’s mostly able to restrain himself, by cracking a whole lots of tea cups and table edges, but then Eren has to continue his general streak of incompetence and actually mess up his harness. 

The next time Eren drops the mop he’s using and bends to pick it up, Levi reaches out without thinking and hooks his fingers under the twisted belt, straightening it out. 

His hand is pressed against something very soft and...

Levi violently snatches his hand back, inadvertently snapping the belt against Eren’s... assets. Eren yelps and jumps a little. Levi’s hand twitches, wanting to do it again. Eren rubs at the sore spot. Yup, that ass is definitely squeezable. 

And suddenly, it’s too much. No matter how good Levi’s self-restraint, he’s still a red-blooded male, and he has needs. Which will have to be satisfied with a little alone time. Right now. 

Levi stands abruptly and stalks out of the room without another word. 

Each step is progressively harder -- or rather, something else is getting hard. At this rate, he won’t make it to his quarters. He’s already undoing part of the harness, which had grown uncomfortably tight in the front. 

Instead, Levi ducks into an empty room and kicks the door shut. He’s reaching for his belt as his back hits the closed door and he lets himself slide to the floor. (He hopes its clean.)

He’ll have to be quiet, Levi thinks and, with a sigh, bites down on his cravat. 

\----------

Eren is left in a stupefied daze as Levi stalks out. 

The captain’s very presence already makes Eren... agitated. Having him close drives Eren to new feats of clumsiness. So when something like that happens, Eren is left completely frozen in shock. 

Did he do something wrong? Was the captain trying to tell him something? Was it a signal? A reprimand? Why did Levi just leave like that?

But Eren didn’t get where he is by being hesitant or overthinking things. As soon as he regains control of his body, he rushes out after the captain. 

The hallway appears empty, but Eren thinks he sees a flash of a jacket turning the corner and hears the fading echo hurried footsteps. He breaks into a sprint after Levi, skidding around the same corner. He’s just in time to see the captain duck into one of the deserted rooms and slam the door shut after himself. 

It’s at this point that Eren realizes he’s got no idea what he wants to say to Levi. That doesn’t stop him from approaching, but his steps grow slower and softer until he draws to an almost silent stop in front of the closed door. 

Eren stares at it, as if trying to will it to reveal what Levi is doing inside. 

Come to think of it, what could the captain want with an empty room? ...To let off some steam? In that case, Eren would be better off not interrupting him, or he might become a convenient “stress relief” as well. 

But if Eren’s the one who pissed Levi off, wouldn’t it be better to get it out in the open? Find out what he did wrong and apologize? 

For Eren, fear has never been the dominant emotion, and he ends up slowly creeping closer to the door. His hands reach out. His fingertips are almost brushing the wood when Eren freezes. 

He thinks he hears something from inside. Inside, where the captain is alone. 

It... it sounds like... a groan? 

Is the captain hurt? That idea is so inconceivable that Eren actually hesitates before bursting in. 

There is another noise from inside, even softer this time. It doesn’t sound pained. It sounds...

Eren swallows heavily as a memory surfaces from a deep corner of his mind. These sorts of things happen in the boys’ barracks, inevitably. He’s walked in on his share of classmates over the years. 

Another sound -- almost a gasp. Shifting, cloth against cloth, buckles clinking. Then, a stifled moan. 

The captain is... Levi is... 

Eren is the one who needs to stifle his sounds now, and he buries his burning face in his hands. 

Behind the door, the captain’s breathing speeds up. There is another moan, and Eren silently sinks into a crouch, hiding his face as he begins to rock back and forth. 

The captain is about to--

He isn’t thinking about it. He isn’t thinking about it. 

He’s definitely not imagining what Levi must look like, on the other side of the door. Sprawled on the ground. Harness half-undone. One hand inside his--

Nope, Eren’s not imagining that at all. He’s not biting back an inappropriate noise of his own. He’s not getting hard at all. 

There is a long, loud moan, unmuffled now, and a heavy thud -- Levi throwing his head back against the door as he---

Eren runs and doesn’t look back. 

\---------  
/////////////////// ohmygodicant--


	8. Mikasa's scarf goes missing (humor?)

Prompt: During training someone thinks that it would be a funny prank to to take and hide the scarf that Mikasa never seems to take off.

It does not end well.

Up to anon whether Mikasa's reaction is funny, scary, or heartbreaking.

\---------

**Denial**

“I must have misplaced it,” Mikasa muttered under her breath, dropping to her knees to peer under the bed. 

She saw nothing. But she might have missed it. Instead, she tried flipping over the entire entire thing and checked again. 

**Anger**

“Someone took it,” Mikasa realized, having overturned first the barracks, then the entire training grounds. The expression on her face sent a shiver down the spines of everyone in the mess hall. Gripping her spoon like a deadly implement -- which it was, in her hands -- she swore, “I’ll kill them.” 

**Bargaining**

“I just want it back,” Mikasa admitted plaintively, circling back to the girls’ barracks when all her frantic searching and threatening demands for answers turned up nothing. “If I can find it... it doesn't matter who took it. I just want it back..."

Sasha patted her on the back soothingly and offered her half a loaf of bread. But Mikasa only shook her head and turned away. 

**Depression**

The next morning, Mikasa missed training for the first time. 

**Acceptance**

Sighing in frustration, Eren tried to lean over and look into Mikasa’s face, but she quickly turned away again. Her reached up in an instinctive gesture, before grasping only empty air and curling into a faintly trembling fist. 

“Oh, I see,” Eren said. “I thought something was different. Is that scarf really such a big deal?” 

“Of course!” Mikasa burst out, finally looking at him -- in stunned disbelief. “Because it was given to me by you!” 

Eren huffed. “I’ll get you another one,” he promised. “So come down to dinner. Starving yourself isn’t going to do anyone any good. Or am I going to have to shove bread in your mouth?” 

“I don’t want a new one. I want that one,” Mikasa muttered, but her lips quirked just a little at Eren’s joke and, more importantly, his concern for her. He’d skipped his own meal to look for her. He’d been worried. 

The scarf was precious. But in the end, far more precious was the person who had given it to her. 

...She’d still hunt down whoever took it. 

\---------


	9. Titans are afraid of Eren (humor?)

Prompt: Basically, for reasons unexplained, titans are completely terrified of Eren Jeager. They take one look at him, and immediately employ every means available to put as much distance between him and them as possible.

Eren however, is still the anger boy who want to kill all the titans. Except that's rather hard to do, when titans just want to run away from him, and it just pisses him off even more, because they just won't let him get close enough to kill them. 

((Inspired by the idea of Eren running after a fleeing titans screaming "COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD!"))

\-----------

It started in Trost.

Well, no, it started before that. But Reiner, Bertolt and Annie had always chocked up the shiver that went down their spines around Eren to his fervent promises to wipe them out. It was a natural reaction. 

And if it got exponentially stronger when Bertolt appeared before Eren in his Titan form, that was only natural too. Eren was armed and actively gunning for him. Fortunately, no one heard the tiny squeak of terror Bertolt let off as he scrambled to escape under his timely smokescreen. 

Thing is, it turned out all the Titans were terrified of Eren. All of them. 

It took Eren’s squad, jittery on their first real mission, a long while to realize that there was something unnatural about the way Titans were actively moving away from them, instead of in their direction. 

Naturally, Armin was the one to notice it. 

A seven meter that had been previously headed straight for an intercept with them suddenly stopped and began to back away. 

The sight was so odd, Armin paused on one of the rooftops, watching as the Titan hurriedly walked backwards. 

“An Aberrant?” he wondered. 

“Must be,” Mina agreed, landing next to him. 

“Let’s go after it,” Eren suggested, from the next roof over. “We’ve been out here for ages, but we haven’t fought even once. I swear, it’s like they’re avoiding us!” 

“You really are in a hurry to die,” Millius complained, sighing. 

Before Eren could retaliate, Thomas quickly intervened. “Come on, don’t be like that,” he said placatingly, to both of them.

“What are you doing over there? Let’s go!” Nack yelled back. “We’ve got work to do!”

He took the lead, shooting ahead of them. That was a mistake. 

A Titan had been crouched behind the buildings, around the corner. As Nack passed in front of it, it darted out, its powerful jaws clamping shut and catching his leg. 

His carefully calculated vector thrown off, Nack crashed into the next roof, his momentum sending him plowing through the tiles before he finally slid to a stop, blood pouring from his severed limb. 

Eren reacted first, letting off a cry of rage and dashing toward the Titan, blades drawn. Quickly regaining their wits, the others followed, Thomas and Mina splitting off to back up Eren, while Armin and Millius hurried to Nack’s side.

Half his leg was gone, from just under the knee down. Armin hesitated, unprepared for the sight of blood, flowing from the stump, but Millius was already pulling off part of Nack’s harness and using it as a tourniquet. 

“Armin, get his gear off,” he snapped, reaching for Nack’s jacket, to make a temporary bandage. Armin scrambled to obey. 

The other half of their squad was facing difficulties of their own. 

Instead of facing them, the Titan had suddenly scrambled back. Tripping over its own feet, it tried to run. Chunks of a nearby house were torn off and sent flying in its panic, forcing the three new recruits to dodge. 

By the time the air had cleared and they had regained their bearings, the Titan was in full retreat. 

“Come back here, coward!” Eren roared, moving to follow. However, Mina and Thomas grabbed him by the arms and hauled him. 

“Let it go! We need to get Nack help!” Mina yelled. 

For a moment, Eren appeared to wage an internal battle, but finally they were able to pull him away. He’d be back, Eren promised himself. He’d be back for all of them. 

\--------------

On the other side of the city, Reiner -- about to transform -- felt a shiver go down his spine.

\--------------


	10. Eren/Levi, reunion after separate missions (fluff)

Prompt: Maybe Eren has gained enough control over his titan form, maybe they desperately need to spread their manpower over two separate missions, I don't really care how you spin it, but basically Eren and Levi go on separate missions. Then they receive news that the other mission is compromised/people got hurt etc. 

When both missions get back it's total chaos with the injured and all, and Eren and Levi are desperately trying to find each other, pushing through the crowd and trying to scan over the whole hall. Then their eyes meet. 

And then they rush to each other and cling and can't seem to let go.

Bonuses:  
+If they were in a relationship and very few knew until then.  
++ They are both slightly injured/extremely exhausted and they fuss over each other.

\------------

The area around the Survey Corps encampment was in total chaos. The divisions that had been sent out on separate missions were reconverging, members of each scrambling to report, to tend to their wounded, and to prepare for their inevitable next deployment. 

Armin had been trapped in the tent being used as a command center since the day before, trying to sort out lists of casualties, supply shipments and equipment itineraries while at the same time keeping track of the confused, fluctuating front line, such as it was. 

Eren slipped inside, stepping aside to let a preoccupied aide rush past him and carefully keeping the food tray in his hands from spilling over. 

“You need to eat,” he told his friend, stepping up to the massive makeshift table that was covered in maps and reports. 

Armin groaned quietly, letting his head fall into his hands. “Mikasa’s division just returned yesterday. We have to sort them out,” he muttered, mostly to himself. “And we haven’t even heard back from Major Hange’s investigation yet..."

He didn’t mention the other division that had yet to return -- Levi’s. 

Eren’s group had been the first to arrive at the regroup point. It hadn’t been due to any overwhelming success on their part. Rather, the entire mission had been compromised from the start, and even Eren’s Titan abilities had been barely enough to cover their retreat. He was only recently back on his feet, after being laid out from sheer exhaustion. 

Mikasa’s division had fared little better -- they had accomplished their mission, but their casualties had massive, and the entire camp was scrambling to treat the wounded, even in the most slapdash way. 

Hanji’s smaller group, covertly searching for the answers they desperately needed, had not reported in yet. 

And Levi’s division was running late, even by Armin’s most allowing estimates. 

Armin shot Eren a sympathetic look, being one of the few who knew why that last point held a special significance to him. “You should eat too,” he said. “You still look terrible. Should you even be out of bed yet?” 

Eren shrugged. Titan shifter biology was still a mystery, and even Hange mostly just guessed about his limits and recovery times. 

Across the table from them, Erwin shook his head. “I believe it would be best if both took a break,” he said. “Go on.” The commander didn’t follow his own advice, instead continuing to peruse the numerous reports. 

Unwilling to disobey what wasn’t quite an order, but still felt quite close, Armin and Eren exchanged a look and quietly stepped outside. As Armin accepted the food tray from Eren and focused on his meal, his friend glanced around the camp, watching the soldiers hurry by -- some still in their green cloaks, some in their jackets, some only in their own shirts, bloodstains creeping up the sleeves. 

But rather than scurrying back and forth between different parts of the camp, all of them seemed to be running in the same direction, toward the main entrance. 

Turning his head, Eren stared in the direction of the commotion. Something was definitely happening. 

A single soldier, covered in mud and dirt, burst through against the flow, hurriedly making his way to the command tent. When he spotted Armin and Eren, he saluted, his chest heaving under his shaking fist. 

“You’re with Captain Levi’s division,” Armin surmised, his sharp mind already calculating. 

“Yes! There was a mudslide on the road back, so we were--” the soldier began to say, but Eren wasn’t listening. 

He was already running. 

Ducking and pushing through the crowd, Eren desperately scanned the faces of the soldiers rushing back and forth. The newly returned were obvious -- still cloaked, spattered with far too much mud, with the weary exhaustion of those who had been traveling too long with no chance to rest. 

Some were yelling about getting help for the wounded, others supporting those that could still stumble under their own power. Someone called out about stabling the horses. Someone from the camp was directing them to their assigned tents. 

None of that mattered to Eren at the moment. None of them were the one he wanted to see. 

How was he going to find Levi in this chaos? Would Eren even be able to see him? Was he among the injured? Or...

“--you useless shits--”

Eren stumbled. The single moment when that familiar voice reached him through the cacophony was like a punch in the gut. 

He couldn’t hold back anymore. 

“Captain! Captain Levi!” Eren yelled, forcing his way through the throngs of people, in the direction that voice had come from. “Levi!” 

The soldiers flinched out of his way, momentarily parting enough for him to get a glimpse of a certain short figure. The captain had turned, hearing Eren’s frantic calls, and though his expression remained stoic, Eren could see the same quiet desperation mirrored in his gaze.

Their eyes met. 

They moved in the same instance, pushing aside anyone who got in their way. Their hands reached out. 

Heedless of their audience, Eren wrapped his arms around Levi, ducking to hide his face in the man’s shoulder. This time, Levi didn’t bother trying to maintain his usual distance and returned Eren’s embrace with equal -- no, even greater force. 

“I was so worried, you weren’t back for so long,” Eren mumbled, his voice muffled against the dirty fabric of Levi’s cloak. 

“Heard there was an ambush,” Levi muttered back, feeling the way Eren was trembling under his hands. “They knew, were going to be ready for you..."

They finally drew apart, enough to look each other in the eye, studying again the familiar planes of each other’s faces. 

“Heh, you’re a mess,” Eren said quietly, absently brushing his hands over Levi’s shoulders. “Must’ve driven you crazy all the way back.” 

Levi scowled, but he didn’t explain that he hadn’t been able to stop long enough to even try to wash off. He’d wanted, needed to get back as quickly as possible. 

He didn’t reprimand Eren for his touches either. His own hands had moved to cup the other’s cheeks, thumbs rubbing over the deep bags under his eyes. 

“You look worse,” Levi said back, his voice lacking any real bite. “What did you do, you shitty brat?” 

“I fought, of course,” Eren said, tilting his face to press his lips against Levi’s palm. He fought to get back, to see the captain again. 

Someone cleared their throat uncomfortably, breaking the pair out of their private world. Everyone around them had paused, staring at the scene in varying degrees of shock. Eren couldn’t help but blush. It seemed like their secret was out. 

Levi glared around at the soldiers. “What are you standing around for? Get back to work!” he snapped. His hands remained firmly holding Eren, refusing to let him pull away. His expression softened as he turned back to his lover. “Come on, I need to report,” he said. 

And then, they would finally be alone together, after so long. 

\----------


	11. Survey Corps, Eren accidentally crystallizes himself (humor)

Prompt: Eren has accidentally crystallized himself while training in his titan form. now everyone has been tasked to do anything to get him out of there. by everything, they mean all the crazy ideas that they have been ever thought. 

Bonus points if Eren himself managed to get out of there by himself, making everyone's efforts wasted.

\------------

No one is quite sure what Eren was thinking, but that’s pretty normal, really. Still, one way or another, their resident Titan shifter managed to accidentally crystallize himself. 

At least, it better have been accidental. 

“Fix this,” Erwin says after he takes one look at the crystal. He doesn’t care how sweetly angelic Eren looks curled up inside his clear cocoon. They have a race to exterminate and a corrupt social order to overturn. 

Everyone tries to obey, to the best of their ability. 

Their efforts are rather fruitless, but that’s just how the Survey Corps rolls. 

\------------

Hange comes by every day with a new concoction. 

Some are so acidic she and her assistants have to sprint to get them to crystal before they eat through the container. Some boil and bubble under their own power. Some let off ominous smoke. Some appear to be trying to escape. 

None have any effect. All of them simply flow over the crystal’s surface without leaving a mark. 

\------------

Tying a bandana over his nose and mouth the way another man might don armor, Levi tries to wear the crystal down by repeated application of water. Just water. It works in nature, right? 

Or maybe he’s just washing the thing.

\-------------

Mike sniffs the crystal experimentally. Then, to the shock of everyone watching, he licks it. He hums thoughtfully. 

No one knows what to make of that. 

\-------------

A group of soldiers hauls in crate upon crate of explosives. They manage to level everything in the vicinity, but under a thin layer of soot, the crystal remains unharmed. 

For great irony, they had miscalculated the strength of the explosion and end up in the infirmary themselves. 

\------------

Sometimes, Erwin himself stops by. 

“Three days off every month,” he is heard muttering. “That’s my final offer.” 

There is only silence. It’s probably a no. 

\------------

The former members of the 104th Training Corps take a more subtle approach. For a certain value of subtle. 

Armin sits beside the crystal and reads or just talks to Eren. It worked in Trost, didn’t it? Unfortunately, Eren gives no sign of hearing him. 

Jean swears a lot. He’s always managed to provoke Eren. But not this time. 

Sasha offers the bigger half of a bread loaf. Connie keeps knocking on the thing. Bertolt and Reiner perform what looks like an interpretive dance, which they claim is a custom from their home village. 

Mikasa takes to haunting the crystal’s resting place after dark, when she’s released from her other duties. Incidentally, there is a marked increase in ghost stories and unsettling rumors of soul-chilling wailing echoing through the castle at night. 

\------------

Then, to add insult to injury, just when they’ve run out of ideas, Eren strolls into the mess hall for breakfast and asks cheerfully, “So guys, what’d I miss?”

\------------


	12. Eren and Mikasa, drunk (humor)

Prompt: Drunk!Eren. Doesn't need much explaining, I just want to see this

\------------

Drunk Eren turned out to be rather dull. He was rather like sober Eren. In other words, all about killing Titans. 

He was just more creative about it. 

“--And they’ll all get sick and be easy prey!” Eren finished explaining his plan to have every soldiers take a special poison beforehand, so that when Titans ate them, they’d end up weakened. 

Hange nodded seriously, scribbling down notes. It was honestly disturbing. Eren’s plans had gradually grown more preposterous -- and more full of collateral damage -- as he grew more intoxicated. 

“That’s an interesting idea,” Hange said, apparently without a bit of humor. 

“Right? That’ll learn them!” Eren agreed, groping for his cup, only to find it empty. He stared into it for a moment, before saying thoughtfully, “You know, I was thinking. Why don’t we strap explosives to--”

Before he could come up with another terrible idea, the door to their little party room slammed open. In the doorway stood Captain Levi, somehow managing to loom despite being shorter than everyone else, even while they were seated. 

“What is hell is this,” he said flatly, and it wasn’t even a question. 

“Captain,” Eren greeted him brightly and tried to salute. It... didn’t work out. 

“Hange,” Levi said, beyond even insults at this point. 

“It’s an experiment to see if a Titan Shifter can get drunk,” Hange tried to justify herself. 

“You’re so good at killing Titans, sir,” Eren mused, staring at Levi in utter adoration. Again, it wasn’t all that different from normal, just... more so. 

Mikasa, who had absolutely refused to leave Eren alone with Hange, huffed. She might have been a bit drunk herself. 

“You’re great at killing Titans too, Mikasa,” Eren assured her, like it was the greatest possible compliment. He looked between them contemplatively. “You know, I bet if you guys were, like, one person, you’d be super-good at killing Titans. You could kill all the Titans. All of them.” 

Eren smiled dopily at the prospect. Hange barely stifled a snort. 

“Well, unfortunately, two people can’t become one,” Hange told him. “Not even Humanity’s Strongest.”

“Yes, they can,” Eren objected, nodding knowledgeably. “If they have sex.”

“What shitty romance novel did you get that out of?” Levi said disdainfully. 

“I suppose so,” Hange mused, the devious devil woman. “If you make a baby, it’ll be like both of you at once.” 

Levi shuddered and glared at her. 

“That would be great,” Eren said. “Yeah. You guys should do that.” 

“We should not,” Levi insisted. “We damn well will not. Ever.” If this nonsense ever reached the higher ups, he’d be doomed. They might just take it seriously. 

“We could kill all the Titans,” Eren said, almost longingly now. “All of them. And then we could go see the ocean.” 

“No,” Levi bit out. “No. No.” He seemed to be unable to find other words. 

“Okay,” Mikasa said. 

“Okay!” Eren beamed back her. 

“Wait, what?” Levi wondered, momentarily uncertain which one of them to reprimand. That was his downfall. 

In the next moment, both of them tackled him. He hadn’t expected that, at all. On moment off guard... Suddenly, two teenagers were bodily pinning him down, and while he might have been perfectly capable of kicking off one of them, even Levi found himself momentarily stumped with Eren holding down his hands and Mikasa straddling him.

Was she... unbuttoning her shirt? 

No. No, no, no. The hell he was going to allow this. 

“Get off!” Levi protested. “I’ll kill you both!” 

“Yes, sir!” Eren agreed cheerfully. Being continually reminded that Levi would be the one to put him down had made him utterly immune to death threats. 

For her part, Mikasa seemed singularly focused on her blouse, her fingers unable to manage the small buttons. Finally, she lost her patience and just pulled the two halves of her shirt apart, baring her amazingly toned abs. 

Then, she reached for Levi’s belt. 

Levi swore, again. 

Mikasa paused. Not because of his cursing, but because she found herself confronted with his harness and its many crisscrossing straps. She stared down at his crotch with confusion and frustration. 

And at that precise moment, the door swung open again, revealing -- horror of horrors -- Erwin, come looking for one of them. His bushy eyebrows rose, though he still looked entirely too unruffled, given that he’d just found one of his officers in an amazingly compromising position with two teenagers. 

“Should I ask?” he wondered mildly. Levi snarled, caught between pride and desperation. To beg or not to beg? 

“We’re going to kill all the Titans!” Eren told him. 

“We’re going to make babies,” Mikasa answered at the same time. 

Erwin nodded slowly. “Well, carry on then,” he said, beginning to back away. 

Screw pride, Levi decided. 

“Erwin, don’t you dare!” he yelled. “Come back here and get them off me!” 

Erwin just smiled, the bastard. “For the sake of humanity, sacrifices must be made,” he said. 

Fortunately, at this point Eren tried to salute -- and failed miserably -- leaving Levi free to deck him. 

He was never, ever allowed to drink again, whatever Hange said. 

\----------


	13. What if Eren focused on protecting? (angst?)

Prompt: The way this anon sees it. While Eren does have the desire to protect people, it's purely in a offensive way. He protects them by annihilating anything that threatens them, but that's the larger extent of it. He won't take a bullet for you, but he'll take out the shooter. 

So what if it was the other way around, and Eren was more like Mikasa in his desire to keep his friends safe. All that rage and determination not directed towards the titans but towards the well being of his friends.

\------------

Part I: Armin

It’s the same bullies again. There’s three of them, and they’re older, stronger. Armin and Eren stand no chance, though that doesn’t stop Eren from fighting, every time. 

Armin doesn’t have Eren’s courage -- or his bull-headed, insane persistence -- and he mostly cowers away. Finally, one of the bullies tries to drag him forward, as the other two kick Eren to the group again. Armin resists, digging his heels in. 

They struggle for several moments, in a twisted game of tug-of-war, before the bully loses his patience. 

“Come on already!” he snarls and yanks too hard on Armin’s arm. 

Unexpectedly, his grip slips, and Armin is sent stumbling backwards by his own momentum. Behind him are stairs, just a few stone steps, the kind found all over town. He trips. His arms pinwheel as he is sent flying, for a moment. The bullies and Eren can only stare in shock. 

Armin doesn’t even have a chance to cry out as he falls, his body hitting the steps with a sickening sound, tumbling down bonelessly, and finally hitting the ground.

There’s blood on the stone edge, and more is spreading out from where Armin lies at the bottom of the stairs. No one intended that. No one wanted it to happen, and the bullies are left frozen. 

Eren sees red. 

With a roar of pure rage, he heaves himself off the ground and jumps on the nearest member of the little gang. The two boys overbalance, Eren landing on top. He draws his fist back and brings it down, again and again, until blood covers his hand. 

The other two bullies finally snap out of their shock, but only one manages to run. The one who had been beside Eren can only give a short scream of terror before Eren is upon him, fists flying with the strength of unadulterated fury. 

\---------

It isn’t long before the noise draws someone to investigate. Following the commotion -- and the terrified screams -- Hannes is among those who come running. He pulls Eren off the other boy. Somehow, among Eren’s furious snarls, he’s able to make out what happened. 

Dragging Eren along, while the other boy scrambles away, whimpering, Hannes hurries to check on Armin. 

It isn’t until Eren sees Hannes search for Armin’s pulse that the gravity of the situation sets in. Something cold settles in the pit of his stomach. When Hannes lets go of him, needing both hands, Eren doesn’t move. 

“Someone get a doctor!” Hannes yells to the bystanders. 

Fortunately, he’s being overly cautious. Armin is already beginning to stir, and when he comes to, they confirm that his injuries are remarkably light. He hit his head and has nasty bruises in several places, but seems to have sustained no lasting damage.

With the targets of his anger no longer in reach, Eren fusses over him. 

“‘m okay,” Armin tries to reassure him, but the way he slurs his words has the opposite effect. 

“You’re very lucky,” Hannes tells him, his face pinched in an uncharacteristic, severe frown. “You could’ve cracked your head open, roughhousing like that.” 

Eren snarls, looking like he’s contemplating finding the bullies again and picking up where he left off, but Hannes cuffs him across the head. 

“And you! What were you doing? You’ve gotten help for your friend, not kept on squabbling with those other brats!” he reprimands. “He could’ve bled out while you were fooling around! Honestly, what’s more important, your friend or getting revenge?” 

Eren pales at the words, and nothing Armin says seems to ease his sudden guilt. Now that the thought has entered his mind, he can’t stop imagining all the things that could have happened to Armin. Why hadn’t he gotten help? Shouldn’t that have been his priority? Hadn’t his father told him that, for a doctor, getting there in time is absolutely vital?

Despite the serious beating Eren gave two of the bullies, Hannes convinces their parents not to press too hard. On the way home, Eren is still strangely subdued, and Hannes wonders if he was too hard on him. Eren is still just a kid, after all. It’s not surprising he didn’t think too clearly in such a stressful situation. 

But when Hannes tries to reassure him, Eren shakes his head. 

“I should’ve helped Armin,” he mutters. “I was just thinking of fighting them, making sure they didn’t hurt Armin again..."

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Hannes tells him. “But sometimes other things should come first.” 

It’s the difference between the Garrison and the Survey Corps, you could say. Hunting down the enemy versus protecting your people. Neither one is more right than the other. 

Eren is thoughtful as he returns home. He still thinks there are those that should be punished, but he supposes that defeating them would be a bitter consolation if you lose what you’re fighting for in the first place.

\-------------

Part II: Mikasa 

By the second stab, Eren knows the kidnapper is dead, but he has to struggle to stop himself from stabbing him again, and again, and again. This monster in human skin, just an animal walking upright, that should be put down, for everyone’s good--

But there’s something more important, and Eren forces himself away. 

The girl barely reacts as he cuts her bonds. She’s limp as he tries to pull her to her feet. 

“Come on, Mikasa,” Eren insists, trying to break her out of her stupor. “It’s okay now. They're all dead.” 

Something flickers in her dull gaze as she finally looks at him. “...There were three of them,” she whispers, almost to herself. 

It takes Eren a long, frozen moment to realize what she means. 

In between frantic heartbeats, he thinks he hears the old floorboards creak behind him. A third man. His hand clenches around the knife. Mikasa’s dark eyes meet his, defeated and fearful. 

Eren runs. Dragging Mikasa with him, he burst into motion just as the third man tries to grab for them. They avoid his reaching hands, just barely, and dart around him toward the open door. 

The cold air outside stings Eren’s lungs, and every part of him urges him to turn around and fight, fight, fight. They shouldn’t have to run, if they just kill him, they’ll be safe, but when Eren chances a glance back, all he can see is Mikasa’s pale, shell-shocked face. 

Alone, he would have fought. But the most important thing is helping her, and stopping now would put them both at risk. 

Instead of following the path, Eren leads them both into the woods. As they force their way through the trees and brush, the sounds of their pursuer -- his heavy footsteps, his angry curses -- fade away, until Eren finally feels safe enough to let them rest. 

Mikasa drops to the ground, her shoulders heaving, and Eren is only a little better off himself. He only waits long enough for them to catch their breath before urging her back to her feet. 

“Come on, we have to keep going, or he’ll catch us,” Eren tells her. 

Mikasa nods slowly, but when she tries to stand, she stumbles, her legs giving out under her. 

She’s barefoot, Eren realizes, and the soles of her feet are completely shredded from the rocks and broken branches they’ve been running over. She won’t be able to walk any further like that. 

“Sorry,” Eren mutters, both for his thoughtlessness and the way she flinches when he runs his fingers over one foot. His eyes dart worriedly back the way they had come as he tries to figure out what to do.

Could he carry her? No, they wouldn’t get far that way. But she can’t run either. Should they wait and hope for the best? Hide? 

They both flinch as the echo of an angry curse echoes through the forest. They can’t see anything, but it sounds like it’s coming closer. The third man is catching up to them. 

Eren comes to a decision. 

“Hide,” he tells Mikasa. “I’ll distract him and lead him away.” 

He presses the knife into her hands and casts around for something else to use. A sharp, sturdy branch will do. 

Mikasa looks down at the knife, already stained with blood, and up at the boy who had come to save her. “Run,” her mother had said, but Mikasa hadn’t been able to. Where would she run, in this cold world? “Hide,” he’s telling her. But who would come to find her, afterwards? 

Her hand is already growing cold, now that he has let go.

Eren glances back in surprise at the sound of ripping fabric. The knife leaves red stains across the torn edges of her dress as Mikasa cuts off strips from the hem. Her face is set as she brushes away the debris clinging to the soles of her feet and binds them tightly. She doesn’t wince as she stands again, though her expression is tight with controlled pain. 

She takes his hand. It’s warm. 

They run together. 

\------------------

Part III: Carla

Eren doesn’t go far after running out of the house. 

“I just don’t want to be locked up in a cage like this,” he mutters, glaring down at his knees. He looks more distraught than angry, and Mikasa and Armin exchange uneasy, helpless looks. “I want to see the world outside. Why’d she have to get so mad? Dad understands.” 

“Your mom’s just worried about you,” Armin tells him. “It’s only natural. It’s dangerous out there.” 

His rationality isn’t very comforting or convincing to Eren. 

Mikasa slaps him across the head. “Your mom doesn’t want you to leave her, Eren,” she says. “...I don’t either.” 

“I’m not leaving her!” Eren protests. He hesitates. “Is that what she thinks? I’m not gonna... I mean, she’s my mom!” 

She’s a cornerstone of his world. He can’t even imagine his life without her. 

“You should tell her that,” Mikasa says, “while you still can.” She’s speaking from experience. 

Eren stands suddenly. “Yeah,” he says, his voice catching a little. “I’m gonna go. Apologize.” 

Watching him run off, Armin and Mikasa follow slowly. This is something private, after all. 

\------------

The sound of thunder makes Eren and Carla jump. He runs to the window, while his mother calls out, “Be careful!” 

The sky is still clear, Eren thinks, so where did--

That’s the last thing he remembers. When he comes to next, his head is ringing and his body hurts all over. What happened? He doesn’t know. His vision is swimming and his ears ring as Eren levers himself up. The ground around him is covered in rubble and pieces of-- pieces of--

His house. His home is in ruins. A giant boulder is embedded in the center, broken wooden beams and chunks of wall scattered across the surrounding area. 

What happened? No, the most important thing--

“Mom!” Eren calls out frantically. “Mom, where are you?” 

There is a faint, pained groan from nearby. 

Carla is almost entirely buried under the rubble, and she barely stirs as Eren tries to clear it away. “Hold on,” he chants, more to himself than to her. “I’ll get you out. I promise, I’ll get you out.” 

He barely notices when Armin and Mikasa run up. Mikasa drops to her knees beside him, and together they manage to uncover Carla’s torso. The woman groans again, finally coming to. 

“Eren...?” she whispers. “What happened?” 

“The gate... The gate is gone,” Armin says, his voice distant and shocked. “A giant Titan appeared and broke the gate. Titans are coming into the city.” 

Eren doesn’t really register his words. “Armin!” he calls out instead. “Help us move this!” 

He and Mikasa are already straining to lift a thick beam off Carla’s legs, but even the two of them together can’t manage to move it more than a little. 

Armin flinches, as if just waking up, and tries to take in the situation. He can tell that his limited strength won’t help them much. “We... we need to lever it off,” he says instead, casting his gaze around for something to use. “There, get that pole. We’ll--” 

His words cut off in a choked sound of shock and fear as he stares down the street. Slowly, a giant form shambles around the corner. It sways with each step, its long arms swinging loosely. Its sloppy, almost drunken gait would have been humorous had they not know its nature -- a monster that would devour them all should it be able to reach them. 

“Come on! We have to hurry!” Eren yells as its eyes slowly focus on them and its grotesque smile widens further. 

“No!” Carla says suddenly. “You have to run!” 

“We’ll run together!” Eren swears. 

Carla swallows, shaking despite her determination to protect them. The Titan draws closer, the ground beginning to tremble under its footsteps. “My legs were crushed,” she says, her voice tight and strained. “I wouldn’t be able to run. And even you and Mikasa together couldn’t carry me. You have to go. Save yourselves.” 

“No!” Eren bursts out. He can’t refute anything she says, but he can’t agree either. 

“Didn’t you promise to listen to me from now on?!” Carla shouts, growing desperate. Eren flinches. He had said that, when he apologized to her. Her voice softens just a little as she says, “Don’t you want to protect Mikasa and Armin? What about them? You can’t help me, but you can still protect them.” 

Mikasa’s hands wrap around Eren’s arm, but she can’t bring herself to try to pull him away. This is just like before -- just like when her mother screamed for her to run. Then, too, Mikasa had not been able to do anything at all. 

“But I want to protect you too!” Eren pleads, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“You can’t,” Carla says, and the truth of that statement is like a blow. “It’s not your turn yet. Right now, I’m one who is protecting you. So run. Now, Eren!” 

Eren shakes his head furiously, but he understands. She’s right. There’s nothing he can do. They’re out of time, and the Titan’s shadow looms over them. 

All he can do is whirl around and run, dragging Armin and Mikasa with him. He doesn’t look back. He can’t bear to. 

All he can do is hold their hands tighter and never let go. 

\-----------


	14. Eren and Mikasa sibling bonding (humor)

Prompt: I really need to see Eren and Mikasa doing dumb brother/sister things please and thank you.

\-------------

It was a morning like any other as Mikasa -- along with the rest of the girls’ barracks -- rolled out of bed and stumbled to her clothing. She was in the middle of simultaneously buttoning her shirt, shimming into her harness and pulling on her boots when her foot touched something cold and slimy. 

With great calm, Mikasa pulled her foot out of her boot and stared at the goop covering her toes. She knew that slime, its color, its texture.

Her eyes narrowed. 

\------------

The next morning was also a morning like any other as the Eren -- and the rest of the boys -- rolled out of bed and stumbled off to find his clothing. He was just pulling the last of his harness straps into place, while simultaneously trying to find his other boot, when something twisted and pinched rather unpleasantly. 

There was no time to figure out which parts of his harness straps had been subtly shortened or flipped around, so Eren had to go the entire day fidgeting as certain parts of his anatomy were trapped in a very uncomfortable position.

\-----------

The following morning was a morning like any other, until Mikasa appeared at morning lineup with her hair encrusted in some white gunk, which apparently refused to wash off, even when she dunked her head directly into the water barrel. 

Jean made a choked, dying sound and tried to strangle Eren. 

\-----------

The morning after that was a morning like any other, except that Eren was awakened by the other boys snickering. None of them were able to string two words together to explain, but they all kept pointing at his face. 

His face, which had been covered in some creative scribbles while he was sleeping. 

\-----------

However, one evening a week later was not normal at all. 

The boys returned to their barracks to find Eren and Armin’s beds completely slashed up and covered in mud. Their few belongings were broken or missing. 

“It’s okay,” Armin said comfortingly as his best friend scowled and clenched his fists. “I hid my book, and we can replace everything else.” It wasn’t as if they had many precious things. 

It didn’t take long for the news to reach the girls, and Mikasa appeared in the boys’ dorm, something about her stoic expression nonetheless promising retribution. 

“Let it go, you two,” Armin cautioned them. “Don’t cause any more trouble. We’ll be the ones who get blamed.” 

Naturally, Eren and Mikasa ignored him and disappeared for the rest of the evening. The other trainees reported seeing them skulking around corners, comparing notes and plotting. 

\-------------

The culprits were easy to spot, the next morning at breakfast. They sat together, snickering unsubtly while eyeing Mikasa, Eren and Armin. 

However, their snickering was soon cut off as first one, then another, and finally all of them bent over, clutching at their stomachs. Then, they suddenly ran from the mess hall, their faces green and sickly. 

They didn’t come to training that day. Rumor was, they experienced a sudden bout of nausea and diarrhea. Continually, for the rest of the week. 

Surreptitiously, Eren and Mikasa exchanged a victorious nod of solidarity. 

Of course, at breakfast the next morning -- which was completely like any other -- Mikasa suddenly found her tongue and mouth turning bright blue. 

\-------------


	15. Eren and Mikasa get married (humor)

Prompt: Basically, Eren and Mikasa get married for whatever reason. Anon is not too picky about what he is expecting, can be serious, fluffy, or maybe marriage in the Walls basically consists of sneaking up on your beloved from behind, konking them on the head, and dragging them off to the temple. 

Do your worst.

\----------

“There’s no getting around it,” Erwin sighed. “We will have to find some way to sneak into the cathedral.” 

“You say it like it’s so easy,” Levi grumbled. “There’s priests milling around all the time, but there aren’t enough worshippers allowed in there for anyone to pass as part of the crowd.” 

“I... have an idea,” Armin said slowly. 

Those words had spelled the suffering of many men, but none more so than Eren. 

\----------

“But why do I have to be the one to wear the dress?” Eren demanded, throwing up his hands in frustration. Christa quickly pinched him the ribs, muttering something about throwing off the measurements. 

“Because your face is too well-known,” Armin explained patiently. “The veil will cover that.”

“That’s not what you said in Stohess,” Eren shot back, “and anyway, isn’t Mikasa much more memorable than me?” 

Unfortunately, they had drawn the short straws and would get the (in Eren’s opinion) far more boring distraction part of the mission, rather than the exciting infiltration part. Or at least, Eren had drawn the short straw, and Mikasa had volunteered for the other role. 

“This is different. That was against ordinary guards. Since we’re claiming this is a high-class event that must be conducted in one of the most important churches in Sina, people who were at the trial will also be attending,” Armin said, sounding completely reasonable. 

There was nothing reasonable about forcing Eren to wear a wedding dress.

Eren turned pleading eyes toward the commander. 

Erwin just smiled, the bastard. “For the sake of humanity, sacrifices must be made,” he said. 

One of those sacrifices was apparently Eren’s masculinity. His dignity had already died a while back. 

“Ohoho, using your own niece’s wedding as cover for an operation, you’re truly a ruthless man,” Hange cackled. 

His completely fictional niece -- as portrayed by Eren Yeager. 

Desperate, Eren turned to his last hope -- Levi. Surely the captain would at least grant him a merciful death. Wasn’t he always going on about how he would kill Eren? 

But, to Eren’s utter horror, Levi was... was that a...? Sweet Sina, it was. 

Levi was smiling. (Well, smirking, really.)

Eren had been entirely abandoned. The world was truly cruel. 

\------------

As the wedding march began to play and Erwin guided him out onto the main aisle, Eren retaliated in the only way he could -- by viciously pinching and twisting the skin at the crook of the commander’s elbow. It must have hurt, but Erwin’s placid, proud smile didn’t even waver. 

“I’m gonna trip over this dress,” Eren muttered to himself, his voice obscured by the echoing music. It would also conveniently cover the sounds of their infiltration team raiding the cathedral’s hidden archive. 

“I’m glad you’re willing to go above and beyond for the mission, but that won’t be necessary,” Erwin assured him. “They’ll make it in time.” Which wasn’t the issue at all. 

Just for that, Eren made sure to step on his foot, pointy heel first. 

At the altar, Armin looked entirely too pleased with himself, despite being forced into dressing as the head bridesmaid. Eren had hoped to get some revenge, but all he really accomplished was making many, many people question their sexuality. Armin looked unfairly good in that dress.

(Unbeknownst to Eren, half the sudden uncertainty was actually his own fault. However, Mikasa had been quite zealous in defending her “bride’s” honor and virtue.)

Mikasa looked good too, the black tuxedo matching perfectly with her dark hair and eyes, further accentuated by... yes, that was her usual scarf, but tied as a cravat with Levi’s help and mostly tucked away.

Next to her, Jean the best man stood with tears silently streaming down his cheeks. 

As Erwin guided his “niece” to “her” place at the altar, the archbishop cleared his throat and began, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."

They were gathered there that day to steal the Wallists’ secrets, but judging by the look on Mikasa’s face, she had long since forgotten that part. 

“I do,” she breathed, looking every bit the adoring groom. 

“And do you, Ellen Smith, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” the priest continued, turning to Eren. 

Mikasa’s hands tightened around his almost painfully. “...I do,” Eren mumbled, which helped to hide his not exactly feminine voice. 

“Then I pronounce you--”

And then the back of the cathedral exploded. 

Apparently, the infiltration mission had messed up.

Most of the audience was sent screaming and running, or cowering under the pews. In the commotion, priests could be heard yelling, “Heathen! Heretics! You will burn!” With part of its supports gone, the roof began to cave in, while sections of the floor crumbled as the hidden tunnels under the cathedral collapsed. 

Mikasa ignored everything. Instead, she grabbed the archbishop by the collar, while still keeping one hand tightly around Eren’s. 

“Finish it,” she snarled. The old man babbled something helplessly, his eyes wide and terrified. “The ceremony, finish it!” 

“I pronounce you man and wife!” the priest practically wailed. 

With his task complete, Mikasa lost all interest in him. She turned to Eren, dramatically flipping back his veil, and pulled him close. And closer. And...

Too close. Ah. Her lips were soft. 

That was the last thing Eren remembered. 

After he passed out, Mikasa triumphantly carried him out, bridal style. 

\------------


	16. Saving Eren from execution (gen, humor?)

Prompt: Eren's trial goes south, and Generalissimo Zackly turns Eren over to the military police. Thankfully, there is still time. The Military police need a few days to get everything in order before they transport Eren to the inner city to meet his inevitable death. There is no way in hell Mikasa is going to let that happen. She's going to bust Eren out, even if she has to murder her way through the entire division (or die trying). Armin steps in. They need a plan. (He gets one.) 

Bonus:  
\- Erwin subtly helping them, without it looking like he's helping them. (Complete deniability if everything goes south)  
\- The titan shifters having their own plan to get Eren out for their own reasons.   
\- Armin literally planning for every single possibility, even the next to impossible. (A titan appearing out of nowhere right in the middle of the city? Time for plan C.5)

(I also drew inspiration from this prompt:  
Armin's a brilliant planner, but sometimes his plans are just a little bit odd. I'm talking the plans that involve two cartloads of horse manure, a live bass fish, three matching brass kettles, and Jean dressed up as a hooker.)

\----------

 

“Useless,” Mikasa hissed, biting her thumb in frustration. “All of that, and they’re completely useless. Eren looked up to the Survey Corps so much, and they just as worthless as the other branches..."

Understanding her anger, Erwin didn’t try to defend the pride of the Corps. Next to him, Levi scowled, but also remained silent. He suspected that Mikasa would attack him at the slightest provocation, judging by the murderous looks she had shot him during the trial. 

Now that their gambit had failed, and Eren had been handed over to the Military Police, he couldn’t even claim to have been doing it for a good cause. 

“No,” Armin sighed, “it’s my fault. I misjudged the situation. I said Eren could trust me to work things out and stay here instead of going over the Wall, but instead it turned out like this..."

“It’s fine,” Mikasa decided. “We’ll just have to do that now.” 

“Ah,” Erwin intervened. “I don’t think we should be listening to this. We will leave you to... come to terms with the situation.” He paused in the doorway. “If there’s anything we can do, let us know. It really is a very regrettable outcome.” 

Left alone, Mikasa and Armin exchanged a long look. 

“No,” Armin said. 

“I could take them,” Mikasa insisted. “There’s maybe a couple hundred in town.” 

“That’s at least a hundred more than you can take,” Armin pointed out. Mikasa scowled, not looking particularly bothered by that fact. “We need to do this carefully. We have time. Not a lot of it, but some. The Survey Corps’s little show did make the Military Police worry about how they’re going to contain Eren long enough to transport him to the inner city.” 

“At least they’re good for something,” Mikasa muttered. 

“So we’ve got a few days, at least,” Armin continued, ignoring her complaints. “...I have an idea. But we’re going to need some help.” 

\------------

One look at Mikasa’s face told the gathered survivors of the 104th Training Corps all they needed to know about the trial’s outcome. 

“Just leave us alone for a while, okay?” Armin requested softly, before he and Mikasa retreated to plan. 

Of course, they weren’t left alone at all. 

Connie and Sasha dropped by first. “Hey, guys,” Connie greeted them nervously. “Listen, we know you’re going to help Eren, and just... tell us if there’s something we can do. He’s our friends too, you know?”

Next were Reiner and Bertolt. “You’re getting him out, right?” Reiner said firmly. “You’re not going to let him get executed. We don’t want that either. So you can count on us.”

Then, Christa. “It’s not right,” she insisted. “They shouldn’t be treating him like that just because he’s... I can’t let that happen.” 

Annie, for her part, simply lingered in the shadows, meeting Mikasa’s narrowed gaze before disappearing again.

Jean was the last. “Don’t go throwing your lives away,” he told them, his face twisted with uncertainty. “It’s not like I want him dead, but there’s nothing you can do! So just-- Urgh.”

That “urgh” was when Armin nailed him across the back of the head, knocking him out. 

“Well, looks like we’ve got everything lined up,” Armin said mildly. “There’s a lot that might not quite work out, or someone might forget their part, so remember the contingencies. Alright, let’s get started.” 

\--------------

Even if their prisoner was some kind of Titan kid or something, guard duty was boring, and the Military Police were unused to doing actual work. 

So it took the two soldiers a moment to notice that someone had wandered into the dungeon. 

“Hey, you there! This is a restricted area!” one of them called out. 

He was answered by a giggle.

Two girls stumbled out of the shadows, their flashy dresses marking them as workers of a certain occupation. The taller one was swaying, forcing her friend to hold her up. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry, officer,” the shorter girl, a cute blonde, said nervously. She bit her lip, looking up at him with big blue eyes. “Please don’t tell on us! We just got a bit lost..."

The soldier hesitated, eyeing the two of them with interest. They weren’t great beauties, too much makeup and not nearly curly enough, but standing guard was boring, and clearly someone had thought they were worth hiring. 

“If you show us the way out, we’ll get out of your way,” the blonde continued timidly. 

“Why the hurry? Stay awhile,” the man’s partner suddenly spoke up, moving away from his own post. “What do you say, sweetheart?” 

She smiled nervously, ducking her head as he leaned in close. “Oh... um..." She fidgeted stalling. 

Fortunately, the distraction “she” had been waiting for came a moment later. A loud clanging echoed down the hall, the narrow stone passages amplifying the sound. 

“What was that?” one of the soldiers wondered. His partner scowled furiously, but even the negligent Military Police couldn’t ignore something so suspicious. 

“You two just wait right there,” he told the “girls” as the two of them hurried away. 

“Finally,” the blonde muttered, pulling the other with her down to the courthouse dungeon cell. 

Beyond the bars, Eren had moved as far forward as his chains would allow, tense and waiting. He stared in surprise at the two figures that appeared on the other side. 

“Armin?” Eren demanded. “What are you doing here? Is that... Jean?”

Armin -- under the makeup and glittery dress -- shushed him, leaning down to fiddle with the lock. He didn’t have the skills to pick up, but just breaking it in a fairly hard to notice way would be enough. 

That was why Armin had carefully hidden a small saw in his puffy boa. 

Dragging Jean into the cell, he also made short work of Eren’s manacles. 

“What’s going on?” Eren hissed.

“Quick, switch clothes with him,” Armin ordered, ignoring Eren’s questions. Honestly, what did Eren think they were doing, helping him not die a virgin? “Here, I’ve got a wig for him too.” 

“Is he drugged? You drugged him?” Eren wondered, sounding less horrified and more exasperated. To his credit, he was obeying with admirable speed. Three years of drills for getting in and out of the 3DMG harness had given all the recruits very nimble fingers and the ability to strip and dress in about three seconds flat. 

“I didn’t want to try convincing him. He might have refused to help,” Armin explained. “And this way, he won’t accused of collaborating with us. He’ll just be a victim.” 

While Eren adjusted his new costume, Armin forced the short brown haired wig on Jean’s head, placed the broken manacles around his wrists and positioned him on the bed. Jean groaned quietly, rolled over and went to sleep.

Two “girls” had entered the cell, and two “girls” hurried out, carefully shutting the door behind them. 

They just managed to slip out of the dead-end hallway before the soldiers returned. Their voices echoed down the corridor as Armin and Eren crept away. 

“--where did the fish come from? I mean, somebody might have forgotten three kettles there, but a live bass?”

“It’s a prank! Some little shit is messing with us. Honestly, they’ve got no respect for the Military Police out here...” 

“Live fish?” Eren mouthed at Armin, who shrugged. 

“I positioned it to knock over the three kettles with its flailing and make a racket,” Armin whispered. “I figured something so weird would keep them busy for awhile and they wouldn’t connect it to an escape attempt right away either. Seems they’re not going to even report it, which is even better.” 

He was sure that Sasha and Connie would puzzle over why he’d asked them to get three brass kettles and a live bass for a long time to come. 

\---------------

“This stinks,” Ymir grumbled, her words muffled under a bandana. She meant that literally. 

The wagon of manure they had just finished moving according to Armin’s directions smelled absolutely disgusting. It had helped to keep anyone from following their progress too closely and also explained why she and Christa kept their faces covered. 

“Come on, we need to do the next step,” Christa urged her, already having unhitched the horses and leading them away. 

“Right, right,” Ymir grumbled, pulling out a pistol and one of their signal flares. Plugging her other ear, she pointed it at the wagon. 

“Wait, Ymir! You’re too close! Armin said to get back further!” Christa tried to warn her. 

Armin had given them directions that were beyond detailed -- what kind of manure to get, exactly how much, how long to let it stand, where to take it, just how to place it. What a control freak. He hadn’t even explained what shooting a signal flare into a bunch of crap would do. 

Ymir rolled her eyes and pulled the trigger. 

It was a good thing she could heal. The resulting explosion send her flying and then crashing painfully into the building across the street. Armin had told her to stand further for a reason, it seemed. 

\-----------

“What was that?” Levi demanded, looking up at the sound of a not-too-distant explosion. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he scanned the skyline, where a pillar of smoke was just beginning to rise. 

“It appears to be an explosion. Maybe an accident?” Erwin suggested.

Levi snorted. “I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s none of our business,” he said, turning away again. 

“...I wonder,” Erwin muttered. “It might be..." He trailed off thoughtfully. He was almost certain he knew who had caused that explosion. He didn’t know their plans, but several cloaks had gone gone missing a little while back, and he could imagine what those would be used for. 

It wouldn’t hurt to help them out a bit. 

Nodding to himself, Erwin raised his voice as he began to issue orders. “We will investigate. Have everyone head out. Split into groups of three and use a wide grid search pattern. As the situation changes, apply your own discretion.” He paused and added, “And keep your hoods up. ...It might rain.” 

Levi stared at him for a moment. “Are you serious?” he wondered, then huffed. “Fine. You’re the one who’s going to be explaining it to the Military Police and the Garrison.” 

\-----------

To their credit, the Military Police and the Garrison rushed to the scene of the explosion almost immediately. With the recent civil unrest, it was easy to guess that the explosion hadn’t been accidental. 

That seemed to be proven when a second explosion occurred across town not long after. 

The city was thrown into a panic. With so many high-ranking officials gathered for the trial, accompanied by their own soldiers, the chain of command was a confused mess. The unclear nature of the situation and the issue of jurisdiction didn’t help.

Confusing everything even further were the green-cloaked figures of the Survey Corps, which were moving rapidly across town. Some were flagged down to serve as couriers using their 3DMG, others stopped to assist evacuations. Some set out to search for more bombs. Some headed to the Walls, just in case of a Titan threat. 

So when smoke signals were suddenly sent up from opposite parts of town, it was just the confusion icing on the chaos cake. 

Moving quickly away from the place he had sent the smoke flare from, Reiner spared a glance across the city. It was a mess of stampeding crowds, shouting soldiers and green-cloaked figures running back and forth. 

“Urgh, I hope Annie can do her part in this circus,” he grumbled to himself. “Was this in Armin’s plan too?” 

\-----------

The answer was yes. It was in Armin’s plan... one of them. 

A trio of green-cloaked figures moved quickly across the rooftops, much like so many other trios across the city. They zig-zagged a little, but their starting point had been the courthouse area. The wind tugged at their hoods, and for a moment, the edge of a crimson scarf flashed under the cloak of the leading figure. 

That was the final confirmation needed for the figure that had been trailing them to burst into action. 

Mikasa was the greatest talent in a generation -- no, in a century. And maybe, just maybe, the other party held back a little. But what was probably meant to be a killing blow -- one slice, across the back of the neck -- missed, instead shredding her cloak and making a deep cut in back of her harness. 

The force of the attack sent Mikasa off course, but showing the skills that had earned her the top spot, she managed to turn her out of control spin into a rough landing and immediately launched into her own counterattack. 

Her opponent performed an impressive last minute evasion, but Mikasa could already tell that, in the air, she was better. Her next attack would connect, and it would be over. 

However, as she watched in surprise, her opponent turned their sword on themselves, a ribbon of crimson blood snaking through the air for a moment before everything disappeared in a flash of light and pressure. 

Lightning struck, another explosion ripping across the city. Mikasa found herself flung away, and once more spun expertly to land safely, if not gracefully on a rooftop stripped of its tiles. Even before she saw the towering figure that had appeared out of nowhere, Mikasa understood what she was facing. 

A Titan Shifter -- like Eren, a human in Titan flesh. 

“Time for Plan C-5,” Mikasa muttered to herself. How had Armin known? Even though he had explained the possibility to her, she had troubled crediting his amazingly intuitive leaps of logic. 

However, first, she gestured sharply to her two companions, both of them having managed to land safely, but were now staring in shock at the Titan before them. 

Her command snapped them back to reality, and they both scrambled to pull down their hoods. The faces revealed were not those of Eren and Armin, as the Titan Shifter had no doubt assumed. Rather, they were Connie and Sasha, playing decoy per Armin’s request. 

As Armin had hoped and been cold-bloodedly willing to risk, the Titan did not attack either of them, now that their identities had been revealed. In fact, it seemed to be at a momentary loss. 

Regaining itself, it spun in search of Mikasa, who had simply turned tail and run. 

Across town, a smoke flare went up. Then, on the opposite side, another. On a different end, one more. 

Recognizing some signal only she was aware of, Mikasa suddenly changed directions and headed for one of the signals. The Titan turned sharply and followed. 

\------------

“What was that?” Eren demanded, as the sound of thunder faded away. “That sounded almost like..."

“The Colossal Titan?” Armin finished. He nodded. “Yeah, it sounds like we’re on C-5.” 

He rummaged in the saddle pack on one of the horses he and Eren had found waiting for them at the designated spot -- the same horses that had been pulling a manure wagon not too long before and had been relocated by Christa and Ymir after their bout of arsen. 

What he pulled out was a pistol and a smoke flare. 

“What’s C-5?” Eren asked. 

“What to do if a Titan that isn’t you appears suddenly,” Armin said absently. In the distance, a smoke signal went up, and Armin nodded to himself. Raising his arm, he shot off his own flare. 

“Come on,” he urged Eren. “We need to get going.”

Still in their long-haired wigs, but now in Trainee Corps uniforms, Eren and Armin mounted and quickly set off. 

Eren couldn’t help but wonder where, precisely, they were going. 

\------------

Christa watched anxiously, pistol still in hand, as a smoke flare answered her own signal. Armin had been frustratingly vague about the purpose and intention of his directions -- she had only been told to shoot off a flare if she heard thunder or saw lightning, which was what had just occurred. 

In fact, she had an inkling as to what he meant, but no way of truly confirming her suspicions. 

Was there anything else she could do? Christa bit her lip, trying to figure out her next move. 

Ymir’s hand closed over her smaller one, wrapping around the pistol as well. “I don’t think you should get involved any further,” Ymir told her. “That’s enough. Any more, and it could get real dicey for you.” 

“But..." Christa tried to protest, only to sigh in defeat. 

In truth, she didn’t know Armin’s plans and his orders to her only went to this point. Most likely, even he had thought it would be too dangerous for her to do anything further. 

“Okay,” Christa agreed. “Let’s get going. We should probably report in and help with evacuations.” 

“That’s my Christa,” Ymir cooed, ruffling her hair. 

\-----------

When the first smoke signal went up after Annie’s transformation, Bertolt found himself completely uncertain about what to do. 

Armin’s plan for called for him and Reiner to act separately. Working independently, they were able to deliver all the supplies Armin asked for to all the necessary locations and afterwards provide twice the distraction, though Bertolt wasn’t entirely sure what their particular pattern of smoke flares was supposed to mean. 

Armin’s plan also called for them to answer any smoke signal they saw go up, with a few extra notes about different colors. And there was a signal going up right there. But what if that signal helped Annie figure out where to go or who to pursue? Would setting off a matching one confuse her? 

What should he do? Bertolt dearly wished that Reiner was there to make the decision for him. 

Then, a second flare went up, and Bertolt found himself instinctively fumbling for his own pistol. 

He just didn’t have it in him to disobey orders. 

\-----------

In fact, the smoke signals were just to confuse things further. 

Mikasa had picked the direction she fled in purely based on where she was most likely to find soldiers to dump the Titan on. 

The Titan -- rather slick and feminine in appearance -- followed Mikasa doggedly, despite her impressive evasive maneuvers. It also carved a path of destruction through the city, drawing a great deal of attention. All the better for Mikasa. 

Soon, more and more green-cloaked soldiers were converging on their location, ready to intercept. 

When Mikasa judged enough troops had assembled or were on their way, she spun around abruptly. She was done running -- for now -- and it was time to give everyone else a chance to catch up. 

The Titan managed to avoid her feint, in itself an impressive feat, but Mikasa next went low, tearing out the tendons in its ankle. It stumbled, collapsing to the ground with enough force to crack the street. 

Those few moments while it tried to reorient itself and recover were enough for the first wave of soldiers to reach them. Even temporarily crippled, the Titan easily swatted them away, but they were sufficient to distract it and let Mikasa slip away. 

Ducking into an alley, she quickly stripped off her ruined cloak and spent Maneuver Gear. From here, she would go on foot, to the supply point Armin had their classmates arrange. 

\-------------

In the mass confusion, no one really noticed three riders depart Trost. In their packs were three sets of Maneuver Gear, spare gas and enough money to buy supplies for their journey to Zhiganshina. 

\-------------

“Talk about a shitstorm,” Levi grumbled, compulsively wiping his hands on a clean handkerchief. He glared bitterly at a young soldier who had stopped to gawk, sending him scurrying back to his duties. 

“Yes,” Erwin agreed calmly. 

While Levi himself had quickly cornered the new -- female-type -- Titan, once he had arrived on the scene, the Military Police and the Garrison had still suffered quite heavy losses. And to add to that, whoever had been inside the Titan -- a point Erwin was absolutely sure of -- had managed to escape. 

Some brilliant moron had tried to blame everything on Eren and even went so far as to drag him out of the dungeon, only to realize that it wasn’t Eren at all, and instead his drugged, unconscious classmate. No one had any idea when or how Eren had escaped. 

Naturally, his two friends were gone. The rest of his group, or at least the ones they had been able to track down, pled ignorance. 

Rumors and speculations were flying wild. 

“Do you think,” Levi mused, almost melancholy, “they’ll make it?”

“They just might,” Erwin said. “Those three are really something else.” 

Levi snorted, sounding more like himself. “We’re not just going to sit on our asses waiting for them to come back with answers,” he said, almost demanding. 

Erwin smiled. “Of course not. Tell everyone to start preparing. The next expedition begins a month from now.”

\-------------


	17. Soul bonds (ensemble?, Eren/Levi-ish, angst?)

Prompt: Humanity had different ways of finding their one, their other half, their soulmate, the end of their red string: a colorful birthmark, a song, prophetic dreams, tangled red strings, or a scent. 

Eren has a birthmark of wings, one white and one black, instead of a song in his heart, and his parents don't understand because Grisha had dreams and Carla had a song. And Carla fears for whom he'll love. 

Levi heard the most beautiful song in the back of his mind all the time, singing the loudest the farther south from Sina he got and he doesn't know why and it's killing him. 

+Hanji is the one to find out about Levi, listen to him about the song in his heart, and tell him what the singing means.  
++Armin/Irwin ~drama~  
+++Mikasa has the only red string, and it leads to...  
++++Mike, obviously, knows the smell of his soulmate  
+++++It's possible to have more than one soulmate (Reiner/Bertl/Annie?) 

\-----------

In the cruel word, humanity was granted one mercy -- a promise, that somewhere out there, there is someone just for you, and the single hint to search for them by. A coordinate, where that person could be found. 

But that single blessing could become a curse. 

Finding their one -- their other half, their soulmate -- could be almost a fairytale. A dream as impossible as traveling beyond the Walls. 

\-------------

Some had a mark. Some had a song. Those were the most common.

Carla had a song. It was an irony in itself -- Grisha had never sung, never so much as hummed. There was no lilt to his voice, no hint to what he might sound like. Still, Carla was a skilled singer. She knew voices. She had insisted. She had been certain. He was hers. 

But when he quietly, almost furtively stumbled his way through a lullaby for Eren, she had cried in relief. 

\-------------

Eren was Carla’s child, in so many ways, but not in this. 

He loved songs and singing. He learned gladly every song Carla knew and looked for more. He sang often and freely. 

But what Eren had wasn’t a song. It wasn’t even a dream, like his father. It was a mark. On his back was a pair of wings, one black, one white.

It reminded Carla of the crest of the madmen who passed through their town on their way beyond, outside the Walls. The ones who so often returned with grievous wounds of the body and mind, or didn’t return at all. 

She feared for Eren, for the day that mark would fade away as surely as the life of the person it led to. She also feared for Eren, that he might go seeking the one bearing those wings. 

“Don’t show it to anyone,” Carla told him. “It’s something between just the two of you.” 

Ever rebellious, Eren looked at her dubiously, but this time he listened. “What does it look like?” he wondered, trying to crane his head far enough to see his own back. 

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Carla promised. She didn’t know what to feel about the knowledge that by the time Eren asked again, there might be no mark to explain to him. 

\---------------

Eren took her words to heart. He never asked after the marks of others, whether they were dreams or songs or tattoos, or something else altogether.

He didn’t ask Armin, who wouldn’t have told him even if he had. Armin never told anyone. 

The Church taught that the coordinates were a blessing from God, given to His chosen people within the Walls. Armin had said, just once, that the Church was wrong. He’d meant that they had existed long before people came to live within the Walls, but the local bullies had decided he meant that he had no coordinate, nothing to guide him to his one. 

Or maybe, that he had no one to be guided to. No soulmate. No one who wanted him. 

Maybe, he had no soul at all... It had escalated from there, to the worst beating Armin had ever received. He was lucky it didn’t turn into a lynching, the way it still happened in most remote villages. 

They were wrong. But their words had hurt, more than they knew. 

After that, Armin stubbornly refused to reveal the form of his coordinate -- or who it led to. 

He also never explained why he only let Eren drag him to see the Survey Corps once and refused to go ever again. 

\---------------

The Church called it a blessing from God, but Mikasa’s mother had her own stories for how the coordinates came to be, passed down in her family. 

They had their own shape as well -- a red thread, tying them to their one. 

Mikasa’s mother had held up her pinky, a smile on her lips as her eyes followed the unseen string to where Mikasa’s father was, just outside the window. Mikasa had glanced down at her own hand and her own thread. 

It was slack, dropping to the floor and trailing away through the wall and into the forest beyond. Mikasa never thought much of it, in all the time she and her family lived peacefully in their little house in the mountains. 

It wasn’t until she came to live with Eren, in Zhiganshina, that Mikasa realized something. 

The thread always led south. South, south, south, even when she and Eren stood at the southern edge of town, right before the Wall itself. 

Eren hadn’t understood the meaning of her gesture -- staring at one hand, only the smallest finger extended -- or the expression on her face as she glanced up at the Wall. 

That was the only time she agreed with him -- she wanted to go outside too. 

\---------------

Were there people on the other side of the Walls? Did they have souls as well? Were they searching for their soulmates too?

(Yes. Yes. Yes.)

\---------------

He used to have two marks, one for each of his friends -- balanced, symmetrical, perfect. 

Now, there was only one. One mark, one friend -- one soulmate. 

He would never forget the nightmarish vision of the Titan’s gaping maw as it devoured the other that should have been with them. 

He didn’t think about the many nightmares he would figure in, after this. 

\---------------

How many marks faded away the day Maria fell?

How many in the days after? 

How many in the year to follow? 

The scope of the tragedy was beyond anyone’s understanding. It resonated through the people, regardless of birthplace or status. Sometimes, one’s soulmate could be found on the other side of a Wall. Sometimes, there was no way of knowing until they were gone. 

When Maria fell, how many woke up crying as bond after bond was broken?

\---------------

There were a small handful born without a coordinate. It was always a carefully guarded secret, and revealing it had led to mobs and witch hunts in ages past. Lacking something so fundamental was seen as an indication of some greater defect, as a sign of something inhuman. 

So Erwin had carefully kept his own lack of mark, or song, or dream, hidden from everyone, including his closest friends and even his family. 

It had been surprisingly easy. Sometimes, the coordinate did not appear for a few years, and by the point where it would have become suspicious, Erwin was already able to lie convincingly enough. No one saw it as terribly strange that he was quite secretive about something he had been so anxiously waiting for, as they saw it. 

In fact, it didn’t appear by his tenth birthday, or his twentieth. By then, he had already given up. 

What did it mean, anyway, to have someone meant for you and to be meant for someone in return? It wasn’t a guarantee of happiness. Was he really missing something so vital? He certainly didn’t feel that way. You couldn’t miss what you never had. 

(Except when he did. Sometimes, at the very edge of sleep, he would feel a soul-deep longing that had not yet been given a shape.)

Erwin realized how wrong he had been the day the coordinate finally appeared. He had been missing something all along, even if he had never understood what it was. 

He remembered that day as surely as his own birthday, because that’s what it was -- the day his soulmate was born. 

Erwin was so overjoyed it took some time for the full reality of the situation to sink it. He had wanted to search for them, now that he finally could, but was that really the right choice? Who would he find? An infant? 

No, it wouldn’t be right at all. Meant for each other or not, they were separate people with their own lives to live. That child deserved a chance to live their own life, to stand on their own two feet, without Erwin’s overshadowing, smothering presence.

Because Erwin knew that once he found them, he would cling and never let go. 

Instead, he waited. He had already waited for so long, after all. 

He fought with more determination than ever before. 

He counted the years. 

\---------------

It might have seemed strange, that Erwin remained alone for so long and had been alone his entire adult life, but in the Survey Corps, asking about soulmates and coordinates was almost taboo. There were too many whose marks and dreams and songs had faded away into nothing, all too often before their promise had been fulfilled. 

Those that had their one... the others did their best to dissuade them. Only a fool would throw away not only their own life, but that one person meant for you. What would they feel like, having their own coordinate fade into nothing, without warning or explanation?

Those few that could still keep hoping were allowed certain leeway. Like Mike, and his drive to sample the smell of every person he came across in search of that one scent he knew better than his own. 

\---------------

Scowling viciously, Levi made a point of fixing his uniform after Mike finally let him be. 

“Oh well, I guess you’re not the one,” Hange sighed, shrugging lightheartedly. “Too bad.” 

“The one?” Levi muttered. 

“You know, his one. His soulmate,” she explained absently. “Everyone knows Mike’s looking for them by their scent.” 

Even Levi’s pokerface didn’t quite hide his blank lack of understanding, though Hange misunderstood the subtle shift in his expression. She smiled sympathetically and didn’t ask, assuming the worst. 

\---------------

That wasn’t the first time Levi had heard of soulmates, of course, but it had always been in passing, overhearing secretive whispers that seemed too outlandish and whimsical to be true. 

He had never been willing to show weakness by asking, and no one had ever told him. So everything about coordinates remained a mystery to him. 

That was the reason why Levi had never realized what the song in his heart really meant. It had begun one day, when it seemed like Levi had hit rock bottom. He had almost thought it was a sign of his mind finally unhinging. If that was the case, insanity was already far more pleasant than sanity had ever been. 

He didn’t realize what it meant when the song grew louder after he left Sina. 

It wasn’t until his first expedition beyond the Walls that Levi gave himself away. He couldn’t stop himself from turning to look back as the song faded sharply, the further they traveled from the gates. 

When they returned, their group now so much smaller, the others tried to tease him about being scared to travel beyond the Walls and the way he relaxed after returning. Levi ignored them, but as the survivors’ “celebration” -- really drinking themselves into a stupor in grief and relief -- continued, he found himself growing more and more agitated. 

“You’ve got that look on your face,” Hange noted, sidling up to him and ignoring his glare. 

“What look?” Levi snapped. 

Her smile was strange as she said, “The 'thinking about your soulmate' look. I can tell. That’s why you looked back when we were leaving, and why you reacted like that about Mike, right?” 

She was quick to it figure out, and something about the way she looked at him made Levi hesitate to brush her off again. It was probably the alcohol, and the memory of the Titans’ grotesque faces, swallowing his comrades, but Levi found himself suddenly speaking. 

He was trusting Hange and the others with his life. What did it matter, if he revealed this too? 

“There’s a song,” Levi began, trying to find the words. “I’ve been hearing it for a long time..."

\-------------

Hange listened to him calmly and seriously. She didn’t laugh or joke or look like she thought he was insane. 

Then she explained. 

“Are you going to look for them?” she asked, in the end. “The Commander would probably be willing to give you some time off, for this.” 

For several moments, Levi hesitated. Finally, he shook his head. 

“Huh? Why not?” Hange wondered. She looked almost stricken, unable to understand why he would say that. 

Levi shrugged, turning away. “I don’t believe in fairytales,” he said. 

It was true, he didn’t believe in happy endings. He didn’t believe he would find any happiness, in the end. 

He had already dedicated all of himself to a cause. There was no room for meaningless dreams.

\---------------

After Wall Maria fell -- after his mother was eaten before his eyes -- Eren couldn’t bring himself to sing again. What was there to sing for? There was no happiness in their cruel world. 

\---------------  
Notes:

Coordinate 1. A number representing the position of a point along a line, arc, or similar one-dimensional figure. 2. Something that is equal to another thing. (I am ~so subtle.)


	18. Bonus to 17th: 3 things Levi learned about soulmates from romance novels

Three common plots about soulmates (Or, three things Levi learned about soulmates from pilfered romance novels)

\---------------

1\. Mistaken identity (Soulmates are two-way, always, but it’s possible to get it wrong and approach someone who is simply very similar to your soulmate)

_“But don’t you see what this means?” she pleaded, looking up from the two birth certificates in her hands. “The thing I’ve always felt was missing, the person you’ve been dreaming of, the one you mistook me for -- it’s been my lost twin sister all along!”_

_His breath caught, and he reached out to take one of the papers from her hands. Reverently, he ran his fingertips over the name. His soulmate’s--_

“What’re you reading?” 

A lesser man would have screamed in surprise, but Levi simply shoved the book he had become engrossed in behind him and glared at Hange with all the malevolence he could muster. 

She didn’t appear at all concerned. “Oh, the twin one? It’s pretty good,” she went on, blithely ignoring Levi’s obvious desire for her to ignore his reading choices. “I always wondered whether twins really had that kind of telepathy thing going. There’s a pair of twins in Mike’s unit, but he wouldn’t let me experiment on them at all!” 

As she sighed, shaking her head at Mike’s uncooperativeness, Levi took the opportunity to shove the book into her hands and flee. It figured, he thought, that these magic soul bonds weren’t even reliable. 

\---------------

2\. Gave up too soon (Not many people find their soulmates, and most relationships are between those who had already given up waiting for their one; naturally, if the soulmate shows up after the wedding, things get rough)

_“So what if you saw her in a dream?!” she screamed. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and he felt his heart shudder at her pain. She was dear to him, even if she was not the one. Her tearful eyes turned to him pleadingly. “Don’t we share so much more than that? All those years together? All our memories? Our lives?”_

_“It’s true,” he admitted. “We have shared much, but to me, she is the most important thing in the world, the one I would throw away everything for..."_

Levi slammed the book shut. “What a bunch of drivel,” he muttered to himself. 

“Oh, I didn’t think it was that bad,” Erwin commented, making Levi tense in surprise. He had been so absorbed in his anger that he hadn’t noticed the commander return. 

Scowling, Levi quickly returned the book back onto the shelf where he had found it. “Why do you even keep something like that in your office?” he wondered waspishly. 

Erwin smiled mysteriously, his expression melancholy and reminiscing. “It has a sentimental value,” he said. “I first read it when I was much younger, and it resonated with me on a certain level.” 

The cover of the book had been almost entirely worn away, so much that Levi had not been able to figure out the title or the author, the corners had become rounded down, and several pages were falling out. Judging by its state, Erwin had not read the book just once, but over and over again. Had he carried this same copy through the years? 

Levi’s dubious, almost disgusted expression made Erwin chuckle. “It’s melodramatic and contrived,” he admitted. “But I think it holds a certain truth. Every human has one thing that is paramount to them, for which they sacrifice anything.” 

“I didn’t expect that from you, Erwin,” Levi said, looking at commander with a piercing gaze. “Don’t you already have something you would sacrifice anything for, even without indulging in fairytales? Or is your resolve to wipe out the Titans too weak after all?” 

“That’s a good question,” Erwin mused. He didn’t seem to know the answer himself. 

\---------------

3\. Drawn together, as if by fate (Coordinates are not simply songs, or marks, or dreams, and soulmates seek each other out instinctively, even if they do not make the connection between their coordinate’s form and the other person)

_“We have to stop running into each other like this,” he said, laughing._

_“Literally,” she agreed. “Get off, you’re squishing me.”_

_“Sorry. I’m really not usually this clumsy, just around you for some reason. How many times does this make?” he wondered._

_“Forty nine,” she replied. “...Approximately.”_

_“Oh,” he said, sounding almost disappointed, “I thought it was fifty. But, I don’t think I can wait until the next time we run into each other.”_

_Their eyes met, and he smiled nervously._

_“Will you go out with me?”_

_She laughed. “Isn’t it forty nine dates too late to ask that?”_

“Captain?” 

Biting back a curse, Levi tried to hide the book he had been reading before Eren could see the cover. How had the shitty brat found him? This time, Levi had made absolutely sure to hide well before settling down to read. How was Eren able to track him down, in this one forgotten corner of the castle? 

“What do you want?” Levi snapped. 

Eren hesitated, glancing at him uncertainly and fidgeting. 

“I just wanted to tell you I finished cleaning the courtyard,” he said, “sir.” He looked like he barely stopped himself from saluting again.

“Fine,” Levi sighed. “Let’s go see how badly you messed it up.” 

“Sir!” This time Eren did salute, simultaneously trying to scramble out of Levi’s way. 

Distracted and nervous, he tripped over his own feet and began to fall, his arms pinwheeling desperately. Without thinking, Levi caught his arm and easily pulled him back onto his feet. 

“S-sorry, Captain,” Eren stammered, flushing. “I’m not usually this clumsy.” 

Levi snorted quietly, striding briskly away as Eren scrambled to follow. Still, something about those words nagged at the back of his mind. Why did that sound so familiar?

 

\---------------  
I just realized that every one of the “novel excerpts” is hetero, while most of the pairings in this minifill are homo. There’s probably some in-story reason related to demographics, but my reason is actually meta -- hetero couples use different pronouns, so you don’t need names or awkward descriptors.


	19. Drunken time travel (EMA+Erwin, humor)

Prompt: During a night of heavy drinking, the Shiganshina trio stumble across a half-finished time machine in Hanji's basement. Somehow they get it working again, and decide to go on a drunken roadtrip backwards through the decades.

They wake up with massive hangovers, surrounded by titan corpses, with a little green-eyed boy and his two friends telling them how "fucking awesome" they are. Apparently they have just single-handily stopped a titan attack and resealed a hole in the Walls.

They're not in Trost. They're in Shiganshina. 

What follows is a frantic attempt to piece together a "last night" that spans twenty years of the past, and figure out just how they rewrote the history books while drunk. 

Bonuses:  
\- At one part they discover that someone has placed a statue of them in some prominent place. (Extra if the statue shows them drunk.)  
\- They literally rewrote the history books. (At one part they discover that one of the most prominent books on history in the Walls was actually written by them during their drunken time-trip.) ((Additional bonus if they were the ones that actually gave that book to Armin's grandfather.))

\-------------

 

“Wait!” a much younger Erwin cried out after them. “When will I see you again?” 

He was adorable, like a choir boy. Armin just wanted to reach out and pinch his cheeks. It was hard to believe he would grown up to be such a ruthless, heartless, manipulative jackass. 

Erwin blushed then paled. Apparently, Armin was at the “say your every thought aloud” stage of drunkenness. 

“845, in Zhiganshina,” Eren told him. “That’s when you’ll see us.” 

For the first time, Eren meant. 

“I’ll be there,” Erwin swore, his expression determined. It looked less impressive than they were used to since his eyebrows were half their usual thickness. Well, he had twenty years to fix that. 

\--------------

“I want to die,” Armin decided. 

“Please don’t,” someone said. Someone who sounded like the commander. 

Someone -- presumably the same someone, who happened to sound like the commander -- stroked back his hair tenderly. That... that was weird. 

Armin forced his eyes open, staring blearily up at the shadowed overhang he was lying under. Against his back was a rough, lumpy pallet. At his side was someone who looked like the commander. 

The commander, sitting on his bedside, watching over him, stroking his hair. 

“Oh sweet Sina, how drunk was I?” Armin wondered, feeling his stomach turn unhappily in either nausea or terror. 

Erwin smiled, and something was terribly wrong. It was nice, like always, but it wasn’t nearly fake enough. The commander was smiling honestly at him. It was terrifying. 

“Eren, Eren,” Armin called out feebly, groping on his free side for his friend. In his shock, he was reverting to childhood habits. “Eren, what did we do? Eren, I think we did something really, really bad.” 

Even the commander was pitying them (probably). It must have been horrible. 

No, wait. What if Eren was...?

Thankfully, Eren’s familiar groan of pain sounded beside him. “Turn off the sun,” Eren begged pitifully, despite being in the shade as well. Hange’s Titan tranquilizers had not been tranquilizers at all, but they had been very effective when used for... other purposes. 

On Eren’s other side, Mikasa sat up, like mummy rising out of its coffin. “This world is cruel,” she muttered numbly, her face pale and green. 

“What did we do?” Armin insisted. “No, you guys, really. We... we... got drunk, right?” 

“Really? That explains quite a bit,” Erwin commented. He sounded mild and pleasant, like usual, but something about his tone was just too... genuine. Like he wasn’t considering the most beneficial way of sacrificing them at any given moment. “In any case, you three single-handedly repelled a Titan incursion and sealed up a breach in the Wall.” 

Armin and Mikasa both turned to look at him, while Eren tried to suffocate himself in his pallet. 

“Again? How many holes are there in these Walls anyway?” Armin wondered blankly. He sighed. “Which one was it this time? Karanese? Chlorba?” 

“We’re in Zhiganshina,” Erwin told him. 

There was a moment of profound silence. Armin looked at Erwin. Squinting against the sunlight, he looked out into the street, which was distinctly not deserted. He looked back at Mikasa. 

Suddenly realizing something, he snapped his head back to stare out onto the street. There, glinting dully in the sunlight was a statue of three people, leaning into each other drunkenly as they stared away into the horizon. 

It was them. It was a statue of them. A well-worn, weathered statue. 

Armin buried his face in his hands. When Erwin kindly rubbed his back, Armin could hold back a sob of pure despair. 

What the hell had they done...?

\------------


	20. Mikasa waits (Future AU, angst?, weirdness)

Prompt: Titans are things of Legend now, and regarded something more akin to myth or fantasy. Though remnants of these scarce histories remain, including the ruins of the once great 3 Walls, and the strange unbreakable crystals situated in seemingly random areas.

In this world a lone black haired girl roams the human cities far beyond the ruins of the Wall, through deserts and seas, motivated by some mysterious purpose. She owns only two things of value; her red scarf and a strange, large backpack a normal girl should not be able to carry easily. She guards it ferociously, and no-one but her knows it's contents.

No-one but her knows that it contains a human sized crystal where a boy appears to sleep within.

\---------

 

Every morning, Mikasa rises with the sun. She doesn’t know if it’s habit or if she’s like a Titan now, needing light and heat to live, instead of food and water. 

Well, it’s not correct to say she sleeps. She just meditates, watching the stars pass by. They are unchanging, even after so many, many years. 

The sunrise is much more beautiful without the Walls to block her view.

“Wake up and see it soon, Eren,” she murmurs. 

Every morning, she shoulders her large pack and continues on her way. The coffin-bearer, they call her. There are legends about her now. Mikasa doesn’t care, but she wonders what Eren would think. Would he get annoyed or laugh? Her lips quirk gently at the thought. She looks forward to his reaction. 

\---------

They talk about her black hair, the large box she carries on her back -- too big for her. The one she kills anyone for touching. What is in it? There are as many legends as there are human lands. 

There are many lands now. People have spread across the world, no longer fearing the Titans. Those are now just a legend too. 

They talk of her scarf -- red like blood. 

It’s not the same scarf anymore, not really. She has replaced and rewoven it, part by part, until there is not a single strand of the original left. In a way, it shed its skin, its scales, its feathers. Well, that’s only natural, right? 

Her scarf has changed so gradually that Mikasa cannot truly distinguish it from the one she received so long ago. That’s natural too. 

To her, it’s still the same. It carries all the same precious memories. 

\---------

The Walls have been gone for a long time. 

Mikasa returns rarely, but once in a while, she still drifts back. She goes through the Zhiganshina gate, but if she wanted to, she could just climb over the sad piles of loose stone left behind. 

There isn’t much to see. The land within the Walls is now forsaken. It was once holy, a revered and feared place, but now it is simply forgotten. The towns and cities have been all but erased, simply strange mounds that dot the landscape. 

People live only in one place within the three broken circles -- an abbey, or maybe a monastery. A place of hermits and ascetics, those that have left society. 

When Mikasa stops by, they don’t recognize her. It has been more than a generation since she last visited. They only whisper about her legend. Someone runs for their leader. 

The face and features of the white-robed figure that appears are hidden, but Mikasa knows the other, as much as she knows anyone. 

She nods in greeting. “Historia,” she says. 

One hand gestures toward the building, inviting her inside. There are whispers behind them -- it is a sacred place, and only the leader is allowed inside. The mantle of leadership, its concealing robes and the holy title (once a name, but no longer) have been passed down, along with a sacred duty, or so the story goes. In fact, it has been the same person all along. 

Christa has not changed, her face still sweet and delicate under her hood. She is like Mikasa -- waiting. 

Beneath the monastery, there is another temple, built atop a shrine. The sacred houses have come and gone, one replacing another, all in the same spot. They descend deep into the earth, through the layers of time. 

There, in depths, is a crystal. It glimmers faintly as Christa reaches out to caress it. 

Christa is waiting. 

Like Mikasa. 

\-----------

Mikasa does not stay long. She shoulders the coffin -- she hates that word; it’s not -- and continues on. Should she go see the sea again? Or maybe the desert? Ah. Perhaps one of the new cities. They are magnificent, in their own way. 

What would Eren think, of humans reaching ever higher, toward the sky? 

\-----------

In the cities, people look at her less. Their eyes slide away, as if they wish to just ignore her strangeness. People are still people, even after so many, many years. 

But in one city, she is followed. Not by one, or a few, and not by some small-time gang. Once evening falls and she is alone, they step out one by one. They are in uniform, though she doesn’t recognize it. 

“Please come with us,” one of them says respectfully. His body is tense, and he is reaching for his weapon. “Your presence has been requested.” 

Mikasa studies the emblem on his uniform, and her eyes narrow. 

They take her to the center of the city, to a fortress of steel and glass and things she doesn’t know. Waiting for her is another familiar face. 

“It’s been a long time, Mikasa,” Armin greets her. 

Christa hid her face to avoid questions, but if she had pushed back her hood, her followers would have proclaimed her an angel, a goddess. Her youthful features bear a timeless holiness that makes her seem not of this earthly realm. 

Armin simply looks unsettling, ancient eyes in a face that is still too young. His subordinates, the ones who had brought Mikasa to him, keep far away and remain tense. She isn’t sure who they’re more afraid of, him or her. 

Mikasa watches him silently. Under her flat gaze, Armin looks away. 

“We’re getting close now,” he says, a little too forcefully. “We’ve finally come to the point where we can start unraveling their mysteries.” 

He gestures around them, to the strange equipment that fills the laboratory. It means little to Mikasa, but further in, she can make out the tip of another crystal, surrounded by a wall of sensors and devices. 

“Soon, we’ll have the answers. We’ll understand what happened back then, to them and to us. We’ll-” His voice catches. “We’ll be able to awaken them.” 

Mikasa only watches him emotionlessly. In the uneasy atmosphere, Armin glances back over his shoulder, his eyes darting away from her flat gaze to the case she carries. 

“You’ve been taking care of him, right?” he asks. “Have there been any changes?”

She doesn’t answer, and Armin doesn’t press. He doesn’t try to stop her from leaving either. 

They both know the truth. Mikasa can’t trust him anymore. No matter how much he regrets, no matter how much he cried when he realized what he’d done, he still chose to sacrifice Eren. There is nothing that could be worth that -- not their lives, not humanity, not the world. 

“Mikasa!” Armin calls out after her. “Be careful. I haven’t been able to track down the other two. Someone must have taken them from their resting places. I might not be the only one looking for answers. Take care of him, and of yourself too.” 

Mikasa doesn’t acknowledge his words. 

She can’t trust him. No matter how much time passes. No matter what he does. 

\----------

As the sun rises, Mikasa opens the coffin. (She hates that word, because it’s wrong.)

The faint morning light plays across a crystal like the others but different. It is much smaller and clouded with faint red. 

Mikasa can still remember with painful, heart-rending clarity the last few moments before that crystal had formed. Eren had been torn apart, his body reduced to barely half of itself. She had wanted to hold his hand, but his arms were gone -- one missing from the shoulder, the other from above the elbow.

There had been so much blood. 

But Eren had refused to give up even then. As the crystal began to form around him, sluggishly, he had looked at her one last time, and Mikasa knew what he had tried to tell her. 

Fight. Live. 

Mikasa is waiting. “See you later, Eren,” she had said to him. And they will see each other again, the day he finally awakens from his long slumber. 

She wonders what kind of dream he is seeing. 

\----------

Information we can share so far:   
\- Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Christa Lenz and possibly others possess agelessness and a powerful healing factor due to unspecified events during the end of the Age of Titans.   
\- Due to various circumstances, the Titan shifters locked themselves into crystal stasis one by one. At this point, no method of extracting them has been found, and the true nature of their state remains unknown.   
\- Armin Arlert has conducted extensive research into the crystal state, using Annie Leonhardt as the main subject. His motivation appears to be guilt.   
\- Ymir’s crystal has remained in the care of Christa Lenz in the ruins of the Walls. She has founded an ancient order of ascetics, whose leadership is rumored to be passed from one “Historia” to the next as they await the promised day of awakening.  
\- Eren Yeager’s crystal has been guarded by Mikasa Ackerman, while on her wanderings across the world.   
\- The crystals of Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover are unaccounted for.


	21. Annie gets kidnapped (Armin+EM, humor)

Prompt:  
At a loss at how to go about kidnapping Eren, the titan shifter trio come up with the plan to take Armin hostage, and use him as bait for Eren. Who will undoubtedly chase them right to the gates of their village just to get Armin back. Annie draws the short straw, and become the one who has to kidnap Armin. She gets her chance when Armin invites her over for tea. 

The plan is to drug the tea and make off with Armin before anyone realizes what's happened. The last thing she remembers before blacking out, is that her tea tasted funny. When she wakes up, she's tied to the back of Eren's titan form. Mikasa is sitting on one shoulder, and Armin is apologizing for having to kidnap her. 

Bonus:  
-The reason Armin is kidnapping Annie has absolutely nothing to do with the fact she is a titan shifter, or anything whatsoever to do with titans.

 

\---------

It would be nice to say that Annie tries her hand at kidnapping Eren first because she has some special advantage -- for example, leveraging their odd mentor(friend?)ship against him, or just because she’s a girl, or anything. 

The truth is, Reiner and Bertolt are just too scared. Not that they’d admit it, but Eren terrifies them. At least Annie isn’t the direct target of Eren’s genocidal bloodlust. She could, theoretically, still talk her way out. 

That’s not much of a comfort to Annie. She knows Eren's not the talking type.

She can take Eren, human or titan form, Annie is sure. He’s still got a long way to go. However, Annie is not arrogant enough to assume she can take the rest of the Survey Corps too. Should she somehow isolate Eren and take off with him that way? But she doubts the Survey Corps will ever let him out of their sight. The idea of facing Mikasa’s wrath is already unsettling. Annie doesn’t need Humanity’s Strongest on top of that.

Annie likes to think that what truly separates her from Reiner and Bertl is her ability to actually use her brain, so she tries to think instead. It’s all about making sure the situation favors you, after all. 

So think. The scariest thing is Eren’s stupid, endless determination. What Annie needs is to turn that determination to her advantage. She needs Eren to want to go with her. 

Briefly, Annie considers using his crazy dreams of the outside world, but she doesn’t have the time or the patience for that kind of subtlety. 

She just needs Eren to follow, not be happy about it. And in the end, Eren’s default setting is rage, with an unhealthy serving of hatred. No point in messing with a good thing. 

So what can piss him off so much he’ll blindly race after her to the Walls and beyond, no matter how much the Survey Corps tries to stop him?

\-------------

The answer is almost embarrassingly convenient. So important to Eren he’ll drop everything to chance after it? Much easier to access? Small, easily overpowered and portable? 

...Sending her a message requesting a meeting? 

That’s the embarrassing part, right here -- how easily she falls for it. 

\---------------

The last thing Annie remembers is meeting Armin at a rest stop halfway between the Survey Corps’s temporary headquarters and Stohess. He had offered her his canteen. She’d taken a drink, then dumped some fast-acting sleeping powder in -- when she’d asked her MP comrades for it, they hadn’t even blinked -- and handed it back. 

Then -- nothing. 

Annie groans and realizes three things. One, she’s moving up and down in a way that’s very familiar to any Titan shifter, being their normal running gait. Two, she’s tied up. Three, she got kidnapped by the boy she was trying to kidnap. She’s never going to live this down. 

Opening her eyes, Annie stares balefully at Armin, who is... blushing. 

“Hi, Annie,” he says, shockingly lacking in guilt, or even shame, for that matter. Instead, he’s just slightly embarrassed and almost proud. “So what do you think?” 

Annie does her best to grind her teeth through the gag and glares for all she’s worth. Her ring’s gone, she notices. She wiggles a little, but quickly stops, realizing it’s a long and painful way down from Eren’s shoulder, still moving up and down as he runs, and the only thing holding her there is Armin’s embrace.

“Are the ropes too tight?” Armin asks, his brows coming together concern. “Connie helped me practice, but..."

That’s when Annie notices that she’s tied up in a strange way. Strange and horribly familiar. She knows this weird pattern, with far too much rope crisscrossed all over. She even remembers Armin asking about it. 

It’s from Reiner’s goddamn weird (illustrated) porn. 

She’s going to kill him. And Bertl. 

Armin jumps a little as she growls. Turning to Eren’s massive head, he tugs on a long strand of dark hair. Eren’s green eye darts to him, and the Titan obediently ducks his head, letting Armin catch Mikasa’s attention, where she’s sitting on Eren’s other shoulder. 

Mikasa smoothly joins Armin, barely sparing a glance to Annie. 

“Mikasa, are you sure about this?” Armin asks. 

“Of course,” Mikasa answers. “This is how Mom did it. You catch the target of your affections, immobilize them and have your way with them.” 

Wait. 

Wait. What. 

Armin blushes to the tips of his ears. “Um... okay,” he says. “I guess. But do we really need to go this far? I mean, everyone’s going to be so mad at us for just taking off...” 

Mikasa looks at him seriously. “We’re going to do this right, Armin,” she says. “Eren said you have defy all authority and run away together. And we can’t just let you go alone.” 

(Eren read that in a romance novel once and assumed elopement was standard practice.)

Armin, it should be said, is a very smart boy. However, for various reasons, he never did learn much about romance and courtship rituals. So when he realized that he rather liked one Annie Leonhardt, he asked his friends for advice. 

His friends, who have dedicated themselves with obsessive focus to things that are not romance. His absolutely insane friends. Well, at least they put their all into it, right? 

And that’s how Annie found herself kidnapped, due to Mikasa and Eren’s misguided efforts to help Armin get laid.


	22. Levi/Eren, only with someone you love (smut-ish?, wangst)

Prompt: Eren has a major crush on Levi, and that's no secret. Levi, who is rather lonely and sleeps with many soldiers for the sake of feeling alive (has gone emotionally-numb) confronts Eren and says that he is capable of fulfilling Eren's dreams. 

Levi starts stripping and proceeds to the dirty, but after awhile, Eren stops Levi, telling him that sex and kissing (or whatnot) is meant for the person you love. Anything goes from here, but ends with Levi realizing he likes Eren and it wasn't a bad thing after all.   
\-----------

 

Levi made it a point to stay away from the new recruits. They were easy to seduce, of course, full of hero-worship and adoration, but they were also too green, in many ways, and even Levi felt something, no matter how distant and numbed, at the knowledge that most of them would die all too soon. 

However, it was different with Eren. Protecting him was Levi’s task, one he fully intended to carry out to the full extent of his abilities -- to the death. 

And Eren was always there. He was always nearby, always following Levi around, and always looking at him with the same warm, adoring gaze. Eren’s infatuation -- obvious to everyone in the Survey Corps -- didn’t waver even though he knew quite well by then that Levi was cold, rude, brusque, occasionally violent and ten centimeters shorter than him. 

Levi didn’t reciprocate those feelings, but he didn’t think it would hurt to give the kid a little something either -- a sample of how adults did things. 

It was easy to get Eren alone, and the boy only watched nervously but without fear as Levi kicked shut the door to his quarters. When Levi tugged off his cravat, Eren went red and looked away quickly. 

If he couldn’t handle the sight of Levi’s bare neck, this was going to take a while. 

“Eren,” Levi said, enjoying the way the boy’s eyes darted abortively in his direction before quickly jumping away again, “you don’t have to hold back.”

Looking pointed away from Levi, Eren was completely taken by surprise as the captain moved suddenly close to him. Eren tried to back away, only to have his legs hit the edge of the bed. Overbalancing, he found find himself falling back onto the mattress.

Eren blushed helplessly as Levi climbed on top of him, the captain’s warm weight trapping him in place. Of course, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to run. “S-sir?” Eren stammered uncertainly. 

“Don’t worry,” Levi murmured, leaning in so that his lips hovered just over Eren’s neck, his breath ghosting over the suddenly sensitive skin. “I’ll fulfill those dreams of yours.” 

A strangled sound of mortification emerged from Eren’s throat as he tried to cover his face. Levi had guessed right, but then, what kind of teenager didn’t have at least one wet dream about their crush? 

Eren jumped as Levi slid a hand under his shirt while simultaneously undoing the buckles on his harness with the other. “Relax,” Levi told him, before pressing his lips just below Eren’s jaw and sliding his mouth down to his collarbone. 

“Wait! Captain!” Eren protested, not so much pushing Levi away as grasping at his shoulders. “Does this mean... Do you like me, sir?” 

Levi huffed, his hot breath making Eren shiver. “Don’t worry about that,” he muttered. “It’s not important.” 

He had done this with plenty of people he had disliked -- arrogant assholes, cold bastards, manic lunatics. As long as he could feel that spark of pleasure and heat between them, things like personality and personal relations didn’t matter in this “adult game.” As long as it made him feel alive, what did liking or not liking have to do with it? 

“Captain!” Eren protested again, and this time Levi drew back, if only to tell him to use his name. Taking the opening, Eren scrambled away. “Stop it! Things like t-this,” he blushed, somehow growing even redder, “are meant for the person you love!”

Something about the words make Levi frown. “And you don’t love me?” he said. He’d meant it to be mocking, but the words came out simply flat and quieter than he’d intended. 

Levi had also expected Eren to blush again, to squirm and look away, but instead, Eren met his gaze evenly. Suddenly, the embarrassment he’d shown concerning their intimacy was gone, outweighed by his fierce determination. 

“Yes, I love you,” Eren said, calm and unforced. His honest, openly affectionate gaze made Levi tense uneasily and flinch away, like the first time he had stepped out into the sunlight. “It’s your feelings I don’t know about. And I don’t think you’re sure of them either.” 

Levi wandered for a moment, looking almost pained, before his expression smoothed out into its usual mask. He sneered and stood from the bed. 

“You’re right. You don’t know shit,” he said coldly. “Get the hell out.” 

Eren flinched at the cutting dismissal, but he didn’t fight back the way Levi had half expected him to. He only gave the captain a sad, kicked puppy look before slinking out the door. It took all of Levi’s self-control not to throw something after him. 

“Should’ve known better than to try messing around with a brat,” he muttered to himself. “Spouting romantic shit like that. He doesn’t know anything.” 

He almost kicked the bed in frustration, but holding himself back at the last moment, Levi simply dropped back onto the mattress and buried his head in his hands. 

“I love you,” Eren had said so easily, and though the expression in his eyes was completely different, Levi didn’t doubt him any more than he had in the courthouse dungeon. 

So what did it say about Levi when the person who loved him was the one who rejected him? 

\-----------

But that wasn’t entirely accurate. Eren didn’t try to avoid Levi, and he was always close, just like before. It wasn’t just out of orders either; he didn’t seem bothered by that enforced proximity. In fact, he didn’t act any differently at all. 

That seemed strange. Surely Eren felt at least a little spurned, especially since he was in love with Levi and had more or less had his feelings rejected. 

However, Eren still looked to Levi with the same trust and adoration, mixed with just a little trepidation and nervousness. He still followed Levi around, still smiled at him naively, still jumped to fulfill the captain’s every order and wish. 

Sometimes, his hand lingered a little when it touched Levi’s as Eren passed him a report or a teacup. Sometimes, Eren stood a little closer than he had before. Sometimes, Eren sat shoulder to shoulder with him, instead of cowering away on the other end of the couch or bench. 

Was he acting bolder now, longing for another touch? Levi had snorted privately and decided to keep more of a distance between them. He had no intention of ever approaching Eren in that manner again. 

Then, as he tried to keep away from Eren, with a strange lurch in his stomach, Levi realized that he was the one doing those things. He was the one who let his hand touch Eren’s a moment longer, he was the one who drifted closer without thinking, he was the one who sat by Eren’s side. 

Eren was warm. He was warmer than any of the others had been, even in the burning heat of passion. 

Even though he intended to keep his distance, Levi instead found himself drifting even closer. Soon, their shoulders were brushing as they walked in the hall, and it felt natural to sit side to side, warmth seeping through the fabric of their uniforms. 

And even though Levi had no intention of approaching him like that again, he did nothing to stop Eren when he leaned in one day, his lips pressing lightly to Levi’s. 

Pulling away, Eren smiled at him -- honest and affectionate -- and turned back to the report he had been filing, a bright blush staining his cheeks. 

That wasn’t the only time, either. The brat had gotten bold indeed, Levi had thought, trying to work up irritation, but ultimately feeling only faint exasperation. 

When Eren pulled him into a tight embrace, both of them sprawling across the couch, and began to gently run his hand through Levi’s hair, the captain couldn’t help but ask, “What happened to only getting close to people you love?” 

For a moment, he thought Eren might pull away and found himself regretting the words. But Eren only snuggled closer and said, “I love you, and I think you love me at least this much.” 

Sighing, far too fondly, Levi let his arms wrap around Eren in return. He could hear the other’s heartbeat, a counterpoint to his own. 

He probably... loved Eren a lot more than just this much, Levi admitted to himself. 

\-----------

One kiss turned into two, then three, then Levi could no longer keep count, his mind completely filled with Eren, Eren, Eren. 

Kisses turned into caresses, and every touch grew more heated and frantic. 

Soon, Eren fell back on Levi’s bed again, the captain climbing on top of him and reaching for his harness. This time, Eren was pulling him closer, chanting, “Levi, Levi, Levi!” 

When had Levi given him the right to call him by name? It was something Eren had just started doing on his own, but maybe he had known that the captain wouldn’t stop him. 

As Levi’s hands drifted lower and began to stroke firmly, Eren moaned and descended into incoherence. Soon, Levi’s hand and both their stomachs were covered in a warm, sticky mess, but he couldn’t find the will to do more than wipe it off with Eren’s discarded shirt. 

Finally recovering a little, Eren pulled him closer and nuzzled Levi’s hair. “Love you, love you...” he muttered sleepily, tightening his grip a little. 

Levi sighed and let him do as he pleased. The flush across his cheeks and the tips of his ears was just from the pleasant heat, he told himself. 

“I know already, you brat,” Levi muttered, burying his face in Eren’s shoulder and letting himself be slowly lulled to sleep. “I love you too.”


	23. Eren gets creeped on (+Levi squad)

Prompt: One time, say, while being hit on by some very intimidating creeps who don't know about the whole titan thing, Eren scratches his hand a bit too hard. Cue sudden 15m class, desperate explanation to Levi & squad.

Preferably pre-Female Titan arc, and... like... just sleaze and intimidation.  
\------------

 

It was happening again, his hand itching as if remembering the long since healed bites he had inflicted upon it. It felt like his skin was crawling -- and unfortunately, that sensation wasn’t limited to his hand. 

“Come on, don’t be so stiff,” one of the soldiers surrounding Eren said, leaning in close and draping his arm over Eren’s shoulders. He had to fight down a shudder, and his involuntary jerk almost shrugged the offending appendage off. However, the man’s fingers dug into Eren’s shoulder, and he only pulled the boy even closer. 

His hand was twitching now, and Eren had to grasp it firmly in his other, pressing down with the palm in an effort to cool the desire to scratch and bite. 

He couldn’t give into his body’s desire to draw blood. He couldn’t retaliate here, even if the only people around were these slime. 

Another of the soldiers -- all of them from the Military Police force stationed in the city -- leaned in as well, his hand coming to rest on Eren’s waist before drifting lower. That was enough to make Eren act. 

“Excuse me!” he insisted, trying to pull away. But the other soldiers blocked his way, pushing him back toward their friends. Eren wanted to punch the smirks off their faces, and his hand clenched into a fist, but he knew he couldn’t. How much trouble would the Special Ops Squad be in if anyone found out that they had let him wander around on his own, even if it was for just a short errand? 

“What’s the rush?” the one on Eren’s left said, his hand drifting lower and lower.

“Yeah, you should take the time to enjoy yourself,” the one on the right agreed, the arm around Eren’s shoulders tightening and his other hand reaching up to cup Eren’s cheek. “You’re probably not coming back after next month, so have some fun, kid.” 

He leaned in, his hot breath fanning across Eren’s face, and Eren could only think how he needed to get away, now, now, now. His hands clenched, and he noticed too late that his nails were biting too deeply into his palm. There was was warm, slick blood, flowing from the crescent-shaped indents, and then--

The force of the explosion sent the soldiers flying, which was probably for the best. The bulk of Eren’s newly created Titan flesh pressed against the buildings, cracking the bricks and caving one of the walls. 

It was only a partial transformation, but the glimpse of exposed muscles and sinews through the steam was enough to send the soldiers fleeing. 

Eren struggled to pull himself free of the misshapen bulk and landed heavily on the hot pavement. Again, his chest was heaving with exertion, and he had to blink away the spots that danced in front of his eyes. 

He had barely managed to stumble out of the alley when the Special Ops Squad arrived, blades ready once more. Even if he understood, Eren couldn’t help but feel just a little hurt at the sight. Worse, this time Captain Levi wasn’t there to smooth things over. 

But this time, things were different. 

“Eren, what happened?” Eldo asked, his voice loud and firm but not panicked. 

“You shitty brat, did you mess up again?!” Oluo demanded, sounding more annoyed than scared. Eren supposed he must look too pathetic to be threatening, slumped on the ground as he was. 

“Kind of,” Eren muttered in response. “There were these men, from the Military Police..."

“What? Are they still in there?” Gunther wondered, glancing into the alley. The Titan flesh was quickly dissolving, but it was clear that it had filled the entire space. There was little chance of anyone surviving a “close encounter.”

“No,” Eren said, shaking his head. “They ran away.”

“Were they after you? Did they try to take you somewhere by force? Did they attack you?” Eldo asked, and the others tensed at the thought. None of them put it past the Military Police or even just a couple higher-up officers to try to correct the outcome of the ruling. 

“I told you we shouldn’t’ve let him go off by himself,” Oluo grumbled. 

“You said no such thing,” Petra snapped, but she didn’t even spare a glance at him, instead alternating between looking Eren over for injuries and watching their surroundings. 

“No, that’s not it,” Eren insisted. “I don’t think they even knew who I was. They, uh...” 

When he trailed off, unsure how to continue, Oluo barked, “Well? What is it? Spit it out!” 

“They were hitting on me!” Eren burst out and quickly ducked his head, hiding his face. “They were, just, crowding really close, and they kept touching me, and I accidentally scratched myself. I wanted to get away, so..."

It sounded so stupid when he said it that Eren didn’t dare to look up. The squad had fallen into an ominous silence, and Eren couldn’t help but cringe in dread. 

Finally, Eldo sighed. “I see,” he said, and there was a sound of blades being sheathed. “It’s a mess, but I guess that’s how it goes. Can you describe these men? We should track them down.” 

“Yes,” Petra agreed, “we should. And beat them up.” 

Eren looked up in shock. They were just going to accept that? They didn’t even sound angry! And what was Petra saying? 

“T-to keep them from talking?” Eren wondered. 

“Well, that too,” Gunther said, apparently in agreement with his squadmates. 

“So? What did they look like?” Oluo demanded. 

“I-I don’t really remember,” Eren admitted. “And I don’t think they really saw what happened. No one will believe them even if they talk, right? It’ll disappear in a bit, so it’s not like there’ll be any evidence..."

The expert Titan killers exchanged a look. 

“Let’s just go home, okay?” Eren asked, a little plaintively. He felt tired and a bit sick, and he honestly sort of missed Captain Levi’s reassuring presence. From now on, he promised himself, he definitely wouldn’t go off alone. 

“...Sure,” Eldo finally decided and, to Eren’s surprise, ruffled his hair. “I’ve had about enough of this place anyway.” 

They didn’t report the incident, expect to Levi, who sighed, glared a bit and let it go. (And possibly told Erwin, who just shrugged.) To Eren’s relief, there weren’t any inquiries from the Military Police either, and he soon put the entire thing out of his mind. 

However, somewhere in the city, a terrified group of soldiers would one day hear about the boy who could turn into a Titan -- young, average height, brown hair and green eyes, in the care of the Survey Corps -- and feel a shiver go down their spines.


	24. Eren does Mad Medicine (humor)

Prompt: Considering what we now know of Grisha Jeager, it's clear that he was far more than a simple doctor in a poor and remote section of the walls. Now, what if some of lifesaving methods that Grisha taught Eren crossed the line from medicine to mad science. I'm talking Frankenstein stuff here. Sewing people back together from assorted limbs, being able to keep someone's severed head alive until he can find a donor body, being able to bring people back to life through lots of lighting bolts and brass fittings.

Bonus: Eren scares/disturbs people so badly with his medical practices that no matter how well they actually work, people are still scared to go to him because they're afraid of what he will do.  
\-------------

 

“Eren,” Armin said dazedly, “Eren, you’re missing a leg.”

“That’s okay,” Eren assured him, a little light-headed from bloodloss. “I can fix that. Thomas and I are about the same height, so can you drag his body over?”

Armin took a deep breath and nodded jerkily. He had been Eren’s friend for a long time, so he was pretty used to gruesome, terrible things.

To be honest, watching Eren cut off their dead squadmate’s leg and sew it onto his own stump, in the middle of a Titan incursion, was not the most disturbing procedure he had witnessed.

\-------------

It started when they were kids, in Zhiganshina. One day, they found the local bullies crowding around something and laughing as they kicked it over and over again. When Eren chased them away, they discovered that it was a sickly dog, practically breathing its last.

The dog did breathe its last, but that didn’t stop Eren from reviving it.

He still had a lot to learn, however, as they realized when the poor thing lost its tail, then one of its ears, and finally its head due to decay.

\--------------

In the years before Eren was born, there were rumors -- about a mad doctor wandering the countryside, snatching up unwilling subjects for their inhumane experiments.

There was also a very real serial killed haunting the countryside, leaving mutilated bodies in their wake. The two were entirely different in goals and methods, but funnily enough, they last appeared at the same time, in the same area.

Only a couple months later, the newlywed Yeager family moved to Zhiganshina and began their life of blissful matrimony.

\--------------

Dr. Yeager and the commander of the Survey Corps quickly struck up a mutually beneficial understanding. The Survey Corps needed medical assistance, Grisha needed subjects-- erm, patients. It was just too bad they kept getting themselves killed so soon after.

Well, that was okay. After all, he had plenty of other subjects for more long-term study.

\-------------

When Grisha rushed to the kidnappers’ hideout, he found three dead men, the body of a little girl and his son holding a head in a jar.

In their struggle, Mikasa had ended up too badly hurt for Eren’s still developing skills to save her before she died, and he knew he couldn’t wait for his father to arrive either.

So Eren took drastic measures. Grisha approved.

It was just too bad that the only replacement body of suitable age and size had once belonged to a boy. Not that having a different set of “equipment” stopped Mikasa from considering herself a girl and wearing dresses. (This would cause Jean much confusion and anguish years down the road.)

On the bright side, Mikasa’s new scarf handily covered up the neck scar.

\-------------

The worst thing about Titans was that they often didn’t leave behind a body or anything to work with at all.

In the end, there was nothing even Dr. Yeager could do for his wife.

He did give his son a mysterious shot.

\-------------

“You hurt your leg? Here, let me take a look,” Eren said, reaching for Levi’s foot.

Levi moved away with impressive speed. “I’d sooner ask Shitty Glasses,” he said and refused to let Eren near no matter how many pitiful looks the boy gave him.

\-------------

On the other hand, Erwin accepted his new arm calmly. “You must be willing to throw away your humanity,” he said meaningfully.

“It’s a human arm,” Eren assured him.

\-------------

The less said about Hange’s take on Eren’s skills, the better.


	25. Annie, Reiner and Bertl, messed-up parallel world (humor)

Prompt: Through means unexplained the shifter trio finds themselves in a strange parallel universe that mirrors their own. Almost everyone they know exists there, except there are no titans and no walls. And that makes all the difference.

Eren is a calm and well adjusted individual. Mikasa wanders around with no purpose in life. Krista is known far and wide as a sadistic bitch, and Sasha has an eating disorder.

Oh, and Armin rules the world with an iron fist. (Nothing too major)  
\--------------

 

The first person Annie, Reiner and Bertolt met in the parallel world was Eren, dressed in a doctor’s white coat. 

“Oh good, you’re up,” he said, checking Reiner’s pulse and flashing a light in his eyes. “I was starting to get worried. It’s been three days since you were brought in.” 

Anything that could lay out a shifter for three days was impressive. 

Eren smiled, a very kind, doctorly smile, the kind used at sickbeds. 

Reiner swayed and passed out. Bertolt broke out in rivers of cold sweat. Annie looked away quickly. 

They weren’t in the Walls anymore. 

\---------------

They found out quickly that there were no Titans in the other world. No Walls either, and no shifters or Survey Corps. 

Eren was happy to show them his photo album, including his many pictures of visits to the beach, to the mountains, to a distant tropical island. He even had souvenirs. 

“I’ve always loved traveling,” he said over some very delicious tea. “Before apprenticing to my father, I thought about being a photographer or a painter and going out to capture the beauty of this world. I still do it as a hobby.” 

He also had a picture of Mikasa, in a very pink outfit. 

Annie, Bertolt and Reiner were too terrified to ask. 

They found out soon anyway. She appeared on the moving pictures screen in Eren’s living room -- or rather, “Mikarin” did. Not-Mikasa smiled, waved and started to sing. 

It was a nice song, very cheery and upbeat. 

Annie made a horrified screeching sound, far more chilling than anything the Female Titan had ever produced. 

\-------------

Eren believed their story, which Bertolt caved and sobbed out while Reiner and Annie were... indisposed. 

“I don’t think I can help you,” he said regretfully. “Zhignashina’s just a little backwater, you know? You should ask Armin.” 

For some reason, the three shifter found themselves shivering. 

“He’s my childhood friend,” Eren continued, “but he’s at the capital now. He’s a pretty important person!”

\-------------

That... was something of an understatement. 

Eren wrote them a letter of introduction, which was a very good thing, because there was no way they would have gotten to see Armin otherwise. 

His many, many henchmen and underlings referred to him as “President,” of what they could not begin to guess and did not wish to ask. His office was on the top floor of the highest skyscraper in the city, and the doors leading to it were massive and magnificent. 

Annie, Reiner and Bertolt were asked to wait just outside as one underling timidly knocked. 

“What the hell you do you want?!” a familiar voice snarled. Except that it was the wrong tiny blonde. 

Armin sat behind a polished, ornate desk and watched them enter with polite interest. On the other side of the desk was the one who yelled -- Christa, of all people. Her usually kind and gentle face was skewed into an ugly scowl. 

“What is it?” Armin asked calmly. “As you can see, I have a very important visitor.” 

“Um, sir,” the underling swallowed nervously and addressed Armin, “you asked to be immediately notified of any news about either of two individuals..."

“I see,” Armin said. Turning to his very important visitor, he added, “I’m afraid we’ll have to resume at a later date. Something has come up.” 

“Fuck you, Arlert,” Christa hissed. “You’ll be hearing from my father.” Turning on her high heel, she stalked out. 

Reiner couldn’t help staring at the generous amount of leg her miniskirt showed and sneaking a glance down her plunging neckline as she passed them. Catching his eye, Christa winked and posed to give him a better look. 

When Reiner craned his head to follow her movements, she stuck her pointy heel into his shin. Tossing her long golden hair, she humphed and sashayed out. 

“You’re lucky she didn’t go for the groin,” Armin commented blandly. He watched them with a pleasant smile as they approached. The doors shut behind them with an ominous click. “Now,” Armin said, leaning in, hands folded, “what is your connection to my friends?” 

Suddenly, he didn’t seem pleasant at all. 

\--------------


	26. Eren the Angry Baker (humor)

Prompt: Basically, instead of joining the Scouting Legion, Eren channels all his rage and hate into a different form. Instead of killing all the titans, he, Armin and Mikasa open a bakery. Armin manages the books, Mikasa does the heavy lifting, and Eren bakes the best bread and pastries this side of Wall Sina.

Bonuses:  
\- Eren literally pours his rage into his baking, and everything he makes, while truly delicious, also leaves you with a burning desire to go outside and murder a titan in ways to horrible to mention. (How the military feels about this is up for debate.)  
\- At least once a rumor starts up that Eren murdered a notorious slaver and used his remains to make a weeks worth of ham pastries. (They're half right.)

\--------------

 

Part I: In the beginning, there was bread

Grandpa Arlert woke them up before dawn, already dressed and ready to go. 

“Come on, Armin,” he said, pulling his grandson out of the nest of rags and straw the kids had constructed for themselves. “There’s someone I want you to meet. Bring your friends too.”

Not even half awake, they followed him out of into Trost’s deserted streets. The only ones out were those finishing graveyard shifts and a few rare businesses that began their daily routines early. 

It was to the back door of one such business that Grandpa Arlert led them. The bakery, a small shop in one of Trost’s residential districts, was already filled with the sweet smell of fresh bread and the warmth of the ovens. 

There was only one person inside -- an old man with long grey hair, tied back in a neat tail and covered with a kerchief. He looked up from the dough he was kneading as Grandpa Arlert knocked at the open door. 

“Well, I’m be,” he muttered. “I didn’t expect to see you ever again. To be honest, I’m surprised you’re still alive.” 

“Same here,” Grandpa Arlert agreed. “How many years has it been?”

“Better ask how many decades,” the other man snorted. His expression shifted, becoming serious. “Why are you here? Should I get my affairs in order?” 

“It’s nothing like that,” Grandpa Arlert said. He sighed. “I came to ask you for a favor. You see, after all that, I went to Zhiganshina.” 

The baker’s eyebrows rose in understanding. “Yes, I see. I can see the logic in getting as far away as you can, but it turned into a right mess, didn’t it?” 

Grandpa Arlert nodded. “This is my grandson, Armin,” he said, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “And those are his friends. I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you keep an eye on them for me?” 

“So you heard about it too? The upcoming reclamation project?” the baker said, and when Grandpa Arlert nodded, he huffed. “Fine. I suppose I could use a few extra pairs of hands.”

“Grandpa, what’s going on?” Armin asked finally, looking up at his grandfather with worried eyes. 

“This man is an old friend of mine,” Grandpa Arlert explained. “He’s... Hm, what name do you go by now?”

The baker shrugged. “Just call me Baker,” he told the kids. “Now, what do you know about making bread?”

\---------------

None of them knew anything about making bread, or any other food for that matter, and they were thus ignominiously relegated to running errands. 

“Are we sure we can trust this guy?” Eren said, poking angrily at the logs in the main oven. “I mean, why would your grandpa know some baker in Wall Rose?” 

“Because I wasn’t always a baker, and I didn’t always live in Wall Rose,” Baker said, right behind them. Having missed his approach, all three of them jumped. He glanced down at the red-hot poker Eren wielded like a deadly weapon with a complete lack of concern. “In fact,” he continued, “we met in Wall Sina. It was through the Wall Cult.” 

“Wall Cult?” Eren repeated, clearly unimpressed. 

“Grandpa was involved with them?” Armin wondered, not so much surprised as suddenly understanding. “So that’s why he had those books..."

“That’s right. I used to be quite... passionate about their teachings,” Baker said. “Nowadays, I find baking to be a far more useful and fulfilling outlet. Now,” he clapped his hands together, “which of you three is the strongest?” 

It was Mikasa. 

“Good, you help me carry the rolls out front,” Baker decided. “Armin, your grandfather said you’re pretty smart. You’ll be keeping tally. And you... well, I guess you can go stir the batter.”

When Baker came to check on Eren halfway through the morning rush, he clicked his tongue irritably. “You call that stirring?” he chided. “Look it’s gotten all stratified. Come on, put some effort into it!” 

Eren scowled viciously down into the barrel, knowing better than to glare at the man would be the closest they had to a guardian for the foreseeable future. 

Baker nodded. “Yes, that’s it,” he said, surprisingly. “The batter is your enemy! Are you going to let it win? Are you going to let it just sit there and luxuriate in its indolent nature? No! You’re going to get it moving! You’re going to make it into something useful! Something to bring joy and strength to our customers!” 

His speech grew more and more passionate, and he gestured grandly as his voice rose to a fever pitch. Eren had never bothered listening to the Wall Cult preachers, which was probably for the best -- he didn’t realize how much like them Baker sounded. 

Instead, Eren grit his teeth and threw himself into stirring. Impassioned by his own sermon, Baker turned to the dough he had left nearby and attacked it vigorously. 

When Armin came to looking for Baker, he hesitated for several moments before finally calling out. Something about the glares the two of them directed at those hapless baked goods in the making was kind of terrifying. 

\--------------

The Manna Bakery had recently lost its only other employee -- a young woman who had manned the counter while Baker stayed in the back making the bread itself. She had married her lost-time beau and the two were expecting their first child. 

While Baker was of course happy for them, he had been left in something of a pinch, so he was quick to put the three children to work. 

By strategically dumping all the bookkeeping on Armin (who immediately found a way to cut expenses by thirty percent) and the deliveries on Mikasa (who could carry more than a grown man anyway), Baker was able to mostly manage both the counter and the actual baking, with Eren’s inexperienced, fumbling help. 

Since the two of them ended up alone in the bakery together so often, it was inevitable that Baker would start teaching Eren a little about the trade. 

“You call that kneading?” Baker yelled, as he and Eren stood at the counter side by side one morning, working on the next batch of bread. “Put your heart into it! Knead with all your burning passion! Squash! Pound! Wipe out of existence!” 

Eren imitated Baker’s violent motions against his smaller batch of dough. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like his mother’s cooking had never involved this much bloodlust, even when she tenderized meat. 

“What do you think about when you bake?” Eren finally asked. 

“Heretics,” Baker said. “And especially men of the cloth who stray from the path of righteousness.” 

Eren thought about Titans, of course. 

\--------------

 

Part II: It’s evolving

At first, Eren hadn’t exactly been thrilled about learning to make bread. But if nothing else, it certainly improved his upper body strength, and after a while Eren was willing to admit that it was almost soothing. 

He even began to feel a certain sense of fulfillment, just as Baker had said. 

The first time he was allowed to make a batch on his own, Eren burned it. Baker boxed his ears, but he let Eren and Mikasa take the blackened loaves to the refugee camps, since they couldn’t be sold anyway. The people from Maria, among whom the three children had been only recently, grasped the poorly-made loaves as if they were a gift from heaven, even though Eren knew the bread was almost too hard to chew. 

He swore he’d do better next time. 

The first time one of his batches was put out for sale, Eren swelled with pride. Standing with Baker behind the counter, he puffed up a little as they waited for the first customers of the day. 

“So why did you decide to open a bakery?” he asked Baker. “I mean, of all the things you could have done...” 

“Bread,” Baker began in his usual way, “is the most fundamental of foods. It is with bread that we are able to carry on each day, regardless of the tasks we set out to accomplish. Without bread, nothing would be possible! Bread is the foundation of humanity’s achievements!” 

“Bread is... the foundation of humanity’s achievements...” Eren repeated. 

“Yes,” Baker said, nodding grandly. “But where does that bread come from? It does not fall from heaven. It does not grow on trees. No, it is made by man, to feed fellow man. By creating bread, I become part of all that is accomplished by all those that eat bread! I am the one that sustains humanity’s advancement!” 

Eren looked up to him with stars in his eyes. “I want to sustain humanity too, Baker!” he declared. “Can my bread help humanity advance?” 

“Of course!” Baker said, laying his hands on Eren’s shoulders. “Today, you take the first step. I’m certain our customers will feel your will through the bread you’ve made with all your passion!” 

The bell above the door rang as the first customer of the day arrived. 

He was a regular, a single shoemaker who bought breakfast on his way to work. Eren watched avidly as the man pulled off a piece of the fresh bread, the soft inside steaming, and popped it into his mouth. 

“You did something different, didn’t you?” he mumbled, chewing slowly. “Mm. It’s... it’s got a kick to it."

He paused, swallowing, and suddenly bit into the rest of the loaf savagely. His canines flashed as he tore off a chuck and quickly devoured it. As he headed for the door, he practically crammed the entire thing into his mouth. 

It kind of reminded Eren of the way Mikasa had force-fed him before. 

“My. Your bread truly awakened his hunger,” Baker said. “Well done!” 

\----------

Pretty soon, Eren was able to take on more and more of the baking, which in turn led to him being given more and more responsibilities. 

“Your bread has always been amazing, but lately it’s really gained something special,” one of their regulars praised Baker. 

“That was my apprentice’s work!” Baker said, gesturing to Eren. “He’s coming along nicely.” 

“I’ll say!” the customer agreed, laughing. “You should have seen my workers after I got them some last week. I’ve never seen them so energetic! What’s your secret?”

Baker always said it was passion, but Eren looked the man in the eye and replied, “All my rage and hatred.” 

The customer stared, completely bemused. Baker cuffed Eren across the head. “He’s a surly one,” he said, smiling. “Kids these days, right? So much resentment.”

After the customer departed, Baker leaned in to say quietly to Eren, “You haven’t been putting anything weird in there, right? Nothing off the top shelf?”

“You said not to touch those jars,” Eren reminded him. “We can’t reach them anyway.” 

“Good, good,” Baker said. “Those seasonings are only for special orders.”

“Special orders? Like what?” 

“Oh, they’re great at parties,” Baker said noncommittally. “Some parts of the Wall Cult use them. They really... free your mind, you know?” 

\----------

With Eren helping, the Manna Bakery was able to start expanding its offerings beyond the basics. 

The more fiddly work of shaping pastries didn’t appeal to Eren much until Baker explained, in detail, that it was refined, directed passion that separated humans from beasts. 

“Furthermore, does this task not offer a greater canvas for you to express your passion upon?” Baker continued, gesturing majestically. “The shape, the color, the combination of flavors -- all are for you to decide! What shall you convey to your fellow man?” 

Eren decided to go with bright red filling, like blood, and a long, lanky shape he thought was rather reminiscent of a Titan’s disproportionate limbs. 

A young couple were the first to try his creations. They giggled at each other as they lifted the rolls and took a bite, licking up bits of stray filling. Chewing slowly, they savored the flavor. 

Suddenly, the young man slammed his hand down on their table. 

"I’m gonna show those bastards!” he yelled. “I’ll show them all!”

Instead of showing any discomfort at her date’s outburst, the young woman bared her teeth. “Let’s do it!” she agreed vehemently. “They won’t know what hit them!” 

“They’re holding us back, chaining us down! We won’t let them take away our freedom!” the young man said, stuffing the rest of the roll into his mouth. 

The young woman licked her thumb clean the way a hardened killer might lick their blade. “It’s time for our counterattack,” she said. “Let’s show our parents that they can't control our fate!” 

They rose in unison and stalked out of the bakery, full of intent and righteous fury.

“Young love,” Baker commented with admiration. “So passionate!”

\--------------

“My kids just loved your cookies!” a slightly harried mother was telling Baker. “You know, the new Titan-shaped ones. But it’s strange... after they bit off the heads on all of them, they suddenly decided they all want to join the Survey Corps. I just don’t know what to do!” 

“Yours too?” the woman behind her commented. “That’s what mine did, but they bit off all the legs instead. Isn’t that strange?” 

Baker nodded along, having heard the same story from almost every customer. “Would you like to try some of our new tarts? Have a free sample,” he offered, holding up a tray with small pieces of delicious-looking pastry. “My apprentice made them.” 

The women chewed thoughtfully. “I’ll take one,” the mother of the head-biters said. “And a few more of those cookies too.” 

“Same here,” the mother of the foot-biters added. 

“And your children?” Baker asked. 

“Oh, I’m so proud of them,” the mother of the head-biters said. “They’re so ready to do their part for humanity.” 

“Such brave boys and girls,” the mother of the foot-biters agreed. 

\--------------

 

Part III: Results may vary, side effects may occur

“Revenues are up two hundred percent,” Armin muttered to himself, pouring over the record books. He stroked the final number covetously. “Eren, you crazy genius, what are you putting in those pastries?” 

“Eren’s bread holds humanity’s anger,” Mikasa said, nibbling on a cookie she had managed to squirrel away during the morning rush. 

“It’s either that or some addictive hallucinogen,” Armin snorted. “Well, it’s all fine, as long as they keep coming back for more.”

\-----------

There was something else that had gone up two hundred percent -- support for the Survey Corps. 

It was strange for Erwin to be escorted out with so many well-wishes. Going out on an expedition had always been a spectacle, but more like an execution -- something people watched out of sick fascination, not because they actually supported the Survey Corps. 

Now, the townspeople were cheering them on, in a rather bloodthirsty way no less. 

“Kill them all!”

“Exterminate the Titans!”

“Urgh, can’t they just shut up,” Levi grumbled under his breath. He winced a little at a particularly loud exclamation from the crowd. 

He wasn’t the only one. All the shouting wasn’t doing the collective “we’re going out to likely die tomorrow, so let’s get blitzed” hangover any favors. Once they were out in the fresh air beyond Wall Rose, everyone would sober up, Erwin knew from experience -- they were all old hands at it -- for now, the sun was too bright, the crowd too loud and the gait of the horses quite nauseating. 

Only Hange appeared to be entirely unaffected, and not just faking it. 

A pair of kids pushed their way through the crowd, darting out to run beside Levi’s horse. The older one, a boy, held up a slightly lumpy paper bag. “Wipe them all out, okay?” he said, giving Levi a fierce look. 

The captain leaned over to accept it -- barely able to reach even when the boy stood on tiptoes. Inside were several freshly-baked pastries that smelled so delicious that even Levi’s aversion to finger foods wasn’t enough to make him resist grabbing one. 

“Oh, look at that!” Hange exclaimed, pulling up next to him. “Lucky! You’ll share, right?” 

Knowing she’d whine until he agreed, Levi handed the bag over and instead studied the roll he had grabbed for himself. He held it up gingerly between two fingers and took a small, almost dainty bite. 

It was... good. Better than good. Levi was capable of eating almost anything, and a lifetime of doing just that had numbed his taste buds quite a bit, but this roll... this roll... it was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten. 

It was warm. Soft. Filled with a flavor that went beyond taste. With astounding self control, Levi took another small bite. He would make this roll last...

Trost’s outer gate opened before them, and the Survey Corps charged out into the Titan-infested lands. 

That was the last thing Levi remembered clearly. 

The next thing he knew, he found himself surrounded by the dissolving corpses of Titans that he didn’t remember killing. Dissolving, mutilated corpses, which looked like they had been hacked apart with a dull blade. 

Looking down at his worn-down swords, Levi guessed that was exactly what had happened. 

\-------------

“You just flipped out!” Hange explained excitedly as the Survey Corps reorganized its ranks. Erwin was displeased, to put it mildly, but at least they had some breathing room, since all the Titans in the area had been violently torn to pieces. 

Levi pressed a hand to his head. “I don’t remember anything at all,” he said. 

“Are you sure?” Erwin said, his thick eyebrows furrowing in thought and something almost like worry. “Did you do anything unusual recently? Did you eat or drink anything strange?” 

“I think it was those pastries!” Hange decided. “Think about it. He went charging off right after he had one. I didn’t even get to eat mine, and I lost the bag when we chased after Levi.” 

“You think a child drugged him?” Erwin asked dubiously. 

“The kids just delivered them,” Levi said. “There’s no telling who they got them from.” 

Erwin studied him for a moment. “We’ll proceed for now,” he finally decided. “If you feel anything strange -- anything at all -- tell me right away. When we return, we will investigate.” 

\-----------

Oluo was the one who found the two children that had given Levi the mysterious baked goods. 

“Mom bought them at Manna Bakery!” the boy said without hesitation. “They have the best cookies there! So we wanted to share them with Captain Levi!” 

And no, they hadn’t let the bag out of their sight between the purchase and the handoff. 

“Doesn’t something seem a bit strange to you?” Petra said, as the investigation reconvened to share notes. “I mean, with the townspeople. They’re all so..."

“Crazy and bloodthirsty?” Gunther offered, his eyes darting around suspiciously. 

“Passionate about killing Titans,” Eld offered more diplomatically. “Yes, I noticed that. You think it’s connected to Captain Levi’s episode?” 

“Well, they all know this bakery, don’t they? And they all say they go there,” Petra pointed out. 

“Best bread and pastries this side of Wall Sina,” Oluo muttered wistfully. Petra elbowed him. 

“So what do we do?” she asked Eld. 

The second in command of the Special Ops Squad considered her question. “Let’s go find this bakery, scope out the place and buy some bread,” he decided. “Then we can report back in for further directions from the commander and give the bread to Squad Leader Hange to study. Maybe then she’ll finally let Captain Levi go.” 

\------------

To be honest, “everyone in town really wants the Titans dead, and they all happen to eat this really delicious bread” was not very convincing proof of causation. Since they were so short on leads, Erwin would have perhaps followed up on it anyway, but fortunately, Oluo provided a ready demonstration when he snuck one of the Titan cookies they had bought. 

“I’ll kill ‘em all! Watch me, Petra!” he roared moments after stuffing it into his mouth. 

Gunther and Eld each grabbed one of his flailing arms and forcefully held him back as he tried to make a break for the Wall. Oluo struggled fiercely, almost lifting Eld off his feet and nailing Gunther in the nose. 

The episode passed after a few minutes, leaving Eld, Gunther and Oluo all sporting an impressive array of new bruises, Petra still clutching the bag of pastries, and all of them with pretty conclusive proof that something strange was going on at the Manna Bakery. 

When she failed to detect any hallucinogens or poisons in the bread, Hange only grew more enthusiastic. Clearly, this called for a more direct approach. 

\------------

“Confess! What are you putting in your bread?” Hange demanded, slamming her hands down on the counter. 

“Rage and hatred,” Eren replied instantly, meeting her fervent gaze squarely. 

“Aren’t you supposed to cook with love?” Oluo wondered, exchanging a look with Gunther.

“There are many sides to the human heart!” Baker declared. “To deny one aspect is to deny humanity itself! We must express all that drives us, both the ugly and the beautiful! The two are often closer than you may guess!” 

“Both beautiful and cruel,” Mikasa agreed. She crossed her arms, staring down at their not entirely welcome visitors. In fact, all the employees of the bakery had gathered behind the counter, arrayed against Hange and Levi Squad, minus Levi, on the other side. 

Levi himself had refused to come, needing to recover from Hange’s prolonged tender attentions by way of therapeutic cleaning back at the Survey Corps base. 

“Are you planning to buy anything?” Armin asked bluntly. 

“Could I have some of those crackers?” Eld asked politely. At Petra’s unimpressed look, he shrugged. “I’ll take them on the next expedition. Emergency rations.” 

Hange lunged for Eren, grabbing by the front of his apron and pulling him close. Mikasa drew a cake-stained knife. The red frosting looked like bits of intestine. 

“What does that mean? What ingredient is that? Did you flavor it with your blood?!” she questioned. 

“That rumor is entirely unfounded!” Baker protested hotly. “We have never once used any part of a human being in our ham pastries! That man’s disappearance was entirely coincidental!” 

“Eren had nothing to do with it,” Mikasa agreed. “And neither did I.”

The Special Operations Squad, always ready to act, took a united step back. 

“I want to see your cooking process!” Hange insisted. 

“There’s nothing suspicious about my oven!” Baker shot back. “The fact that it can fit a grown man inside is entirely coincidental!” Presumably, so was the fact that it could burn hot enough to incinerate even bones. 

The Special Operations Squad measured the distance to the door and unanimously decided that someone would need to cover their retreat. By a vote of three to one, Oluo was chosen. 

“Since you’re so interested,” Armin offered, “why not have Eren make you something right now. We’ll make it a special order. Be sure to use our best ingredients, Eren. The top shelf stuff, okay?”

\--------------

Erwin was not impressed to learn that Hange had gone ahead and sampled the special order Eren made for her. He was even less impressed by the state she ended up in afterwards -- which could only be described as “high as a kite.” 

Fortunately, the self-preservation instincts of the mighty Titan killers on loan from Levi had kicked in by that point, and the four of them had been able to escape with their lives and sobriety and drag Hange back to the Survey Corps barracks, even as she tried to nibble on Gunther’s head and declared her fervent belief that Titans had people inside them, somewhere, and not in the “just had a nice meal” kind of way. 

The extra cookies they had been too afraid to refuse tested positive for some very creative herbal combinations. 

By that point, Erwin was willing accept any explanation, as long as it meant that his chief research would stop obsessing about things that weren’t Titans and his best soldier would stop avoiding her and skulking around the dustiest corners in an attempt to soothe his frazzled nerves. 

And if the people of Trost continued to support the Survey Corps and their efforts with perhaps a tad too much fervor, well, that was hardly a matter of concern. 

He did put in an order of “last resort” crackers, for every soldier to take a bite out of when cornered and needing a bit of extra motivation. 

\-------------

Life went on as usual, at least until Wall Rose was breached. There was a great deal of screaming and much blood. However, it should be noted that no one ran away from the Titans. 

Rather, what appeared to be every resident picked up the nearest improvised weapon and charged at the Titans with what could only be described as “the roar of humanity’s anger.”


End file.
